Roos Vonk

Roosje (Roos) Vonk (Leiden, 4 November 1960) is a Dutch professor (Dutch title: "hoogleraar") of social psychology at the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen^[1] columnist,^[2] and trainer/coach.^[3] From 2005^[4] till 2008 Vonk was chairperson of Stichting Wakker Dier.

Life and work

Vonk studied at Leiden University. She received her PhD in 1990. In 1999 she became professor at the Radboud University Nijmegen. After that she popularized psychology and worked in the field; she gives lectures, management training and writes columns (in amongst others Psychologie Magazine and Intermediair) and also wrote books for the general public as well as study books.

Vonk published on flattering, vulnerable egos, first impressions, flirting, intimate relationships, power and leadership, self-image and self-knowledge. She did research on human frailties, such as overconfidence and "emotional incontinence", and ways for self-improvement.^[5]

In August 2011 Vonk, together with Marcel Zeelenberg and Diederik Stapel of Tilburg University, issued a press release about an investigation into the psychological meaning of meat.^[6] In this they concluded that meat eaters are less social and more selfish than non-meat eaters.^[7] A few weeks later, Vonk offered her apologies about the study,^[8] because professor Stapel had used falsified data. Professor Stapel was put on administrative leave on 7 September^[9] Subsequently, the Radboud University Nijmegen investigated the role of Vonk in this affair, because she might have violated her scientific integrity by releasing the results at an early stage.^[10]

On November 22, 2011, the Radboud University came to the conclusion that Vonk was not guilty of fraudulent behavior. However, she was reprimanded for publishing premature conclusions related to data she had not collected or verified herself and participating in research that did not conform to scientific standards. The premature press release with the conclusions had seriously discredited the university, social psychology and science in general.^[11]

Selected scientific publications

• The cognitive representation of persons. A multivariate study of implicit personality theory, impression formation, and person judgments (dissertation University of Leiden), 1990

Selected popular scientific books

• De eerste indruk (1998). Meppel: Boom. ISBN 978-90-01-70084-3

Study books

• Cognitieve sociale psychologie (1999). (Red). Utrecht: Lemma. ISBN 90-5931-001-2
• Inleiding in de sociale psychologie (2005). (Red.) Wolters-Noordhoff
• De eerste indruk (2006). Schiedam: Scriptum. ISBN 978-90-5594-465-1
• Ego's en andere ongemakken: Psychologie van alledaagse menselijke eigenaardigheden (2009). Schiedam: Scriptum. ISBN 978-90-5594-695-2

Other publications

• Vonk, R (2009). Ego's en andere ongemakken: Psychologie van alledaagse menselijke eigenaardigheden (2009). Schiedam: Scriptum
• Vonk, R. (2008). Wijsheid van het hart. Psychologie Magazine, maart 2008

References