Dr Wijnand Van Tilburg
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Email
wijnand.vantilburg@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 874942
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Location
1.702, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
I am an experimental social psychologist. My research mainly concerns the study of emotion in context of interpersonal judgment and decision making. Within these areas I have been particularly active in the study of boredom and nostalgia. I am available to supervise quantitative PhD projects in the following areas: - Emotion (e.g., boredom, nostalgia, disillusionment) - Economic psychology (e.g., game theory, (cumulative) prospect theory, temporal discounting) - Psychology of entropy (e.g., aesthetics, behavioral exploration) I received my Bachelor's and Research Master's degrees in psychology from Tilburg University in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In 2011, I completed my PhD degree at the University of Limerick, investigating the psychological signature and consequences of boredom. This was followed by a post as Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in psychology. In April 2013, I joined the School of Psychology of the University of Southampton as Research Fellow and was Lecturer in the Psychology Department of King's College London from September 2015 to November 2019. I joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Essex in November 2019. I currently co-supervise the following PhD students: Shilei Chen King's College London Project: How self-objectification affects women's prosocial behaviors Sahana Shankar King's College London Project: Overcoming the era of #FakeNews: A contingency learning approach Robert MacRory-Crowley University of Limerick Project: Physical, verbal and behavioral cues in person perception Muireann O’Dea University of Limerick Project: Taking meaning on bored: Character strengths prevent boredom by imbuing life with meaning
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Boredom
Boredom is a common experience with a surprisingly broad impact on human behavior, motivation, and cognition. Yet, much remains to be discovered about it. What is its function? Does it differ across cultures? How can we benefit from it?
Nostalgia
Nostalgia is a peculiar emotion: it mixes positive with negative affect, and revolves around memories. Nostalgia tend to make people feel good and helps dealing with psychological challenges, such as loneliness.
Economic psychology
I am interested in economic psychology, especially where psychological processes help understand deviations from normative behavior, and where formal theories offers psychology baseline comparisons.
Entropy
I am interested in the role of entropy in relation psychological processes and human behavior. For example how entropy may relate to visual aesthetics, exploration behavior, and self-regulation.
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Advanced employability skills and career progression (PS492)
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Decision making science in theory and practice (PS512)
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Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology (PS908)
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Special Topics in Individual Differences and Developmental Psychology (PS938)
Publications
Journal articles (72)
Tam, K., Van Tilburg, W. and Chan, C., Whatever will bore, will bore: The mere anticipation of boredom exacerbates its occurrence in lectures. British Journal of Educational Psychology
Krys, K., Yeung, JC., Haas, BW., Van Osch, Y., Kosiarczyk, A., Kocimska-Zych, A., Torres, C., Selim, H., Zelenski, JM., Bond, MH., Park, J., Lun, VM-C., Maricchiolo, F., Vauclair, C-M., Šolcová, IP., Diaz, DRS., Xing, C., Vignoles, V., Van Tilburg, W., Teyssier, J., Sun, C-R., Serdarevich, U., Schwarz, B., Sargautyte, R., Røysamb, E., Romashov, V., Rizwan, M., Pavlović, Z., Pavlopoulos, V., Okvitawanli, A., Nadi, A., Nader, M., Mustaffa, NF., Murdock, E., Mosca, O., Mohorić, T., Marroquin, PEB., Malyonova, A., Liu, X., Lee, JH., Anna, K., Kronberger, N., Kračmárová, LK., Kascakova, N., Işık, İ., Igou, ER., Igbokwe, DO., Hanke-Boer, D., Gavreliuc, A., Garðarsdóttir, RB., Fülöp, M., Gamsakhurdia, V., Esteves, CS., Domínguez-Espinosa, A., Denoux, P., Charkviani, S., Baltin, A., Arevalo, D., Appoh, L., Akotia, C., Adamovic, M. and Uchida, Y., Family first: Evidence of consistency and variation in the value of family versus personal happiness across 49 different cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Chen, S., Van Tilburg, W. and Leman, P., (2022). Self-objectification in women predicts approval motivation in online self-presentation. British Journal of Social Psychology. 61 (1), 366-388
O'Dea, M., Igou, E., Van Tilburg, W. and Kinsella, E., (2022). Self-compassion predicts less boredom: The role of meaning in life.. Personality and Individual Differences. 186 (B), 111360-111360
Krys, K., Yeung,, JC., Capaldi, C., Miu-Chi Lun, V., Torres, C., Van Tilburg, W., Bond, MH., Zelenski, J., Haas, B., Park, J., Maricchiolo, F., Vauclair, C-M., Kosiarczyk, A., Kocimska-Zych, A., Kwiatkowska,, A., Adamovic,, M., Pavlopoulos, V., Fülöp, M., Sirlopu, D., Okvitawanli, A., Hanke-Boer, D., Teyssier, J., Malyonova, A., Gavreliuc, A., Uchida, Y., Serdarevich, U., Akotia, C., Appoh, L., Mira, A., Baltin, A., Denoux, P., Domínguez-Espinosa, A., Esteves, CS., Gamsakhurdia, V., Garðarsdóttir, R., Igbokwe, D., Igou, ER., Işık, I., Kascakova, N., KlůzováKračmárová, L., Kronberger, N., Lee, JH., Liu, X., Barrientos, PE., Mohorić, T., Nur Fariza, M., Mosca, O., Nader, M., Nadi, A., Van Osch, Y., Pavlović, Z., Poláčková Šolcová, I., Rizwan, M., Romashov, V., Røysamb, E., Sargautyte, R., Schwarz, B., Selecká, L., Selim, H., Stogianni, M., Sun, C-R., Xing, C. and Vignoles, V., (2022). Societal emotional environments and cross-cultural differences in life satisfaction: A forty-nine country study.. The Journal of Positive Psychology. 17 (1), 117-130
Cantarero, K., Van Tilburg, W. and Smoktunowicz, E., (2022). Other- (vs. self-) oriented meaning interventions enhance momentary work engagement through changes in work meaningfulness.. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 69 (4), 443-451
Erturk, S., Van Tilburg, W. and Igou, E., (2022). Off the mark: Repetitive marking undermines essay evaluations due to boredom. Motivation and Emotion. 46 (2), 264-275
Van Tilburg, W., Igou, E. and Panjwani, M., (2022). Boring people: Stereotype characteristics, interpersonal attributions, and social reactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 014616722210791-014616722210791
Dommett, E., Dinu, L., Van Tilburg, W., Keightley, S. and Gardner, B., (2022). Effects of captions, transcripts and reminders on learning and perceptions of lecture capture: A mixed-methods case study. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education. 19 (1), 20-
Krpan, D. and Van Tilburg, W., (2022). The aesthetic quality model: Complexity and randomness as foundations of visual beauty by signaling quality. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts
Moynihan, A., Igou, E. and Van Tilburg, W., (2022). Pornography consumption as existential escape from boredom. Personality and Individual Differences. 198, 111802-111802
Tam, KYY., Chan, CS., Van Tilburg, WAP., Lavi, I. and Lau, JYF., (2022). Boredom belief moderates the mental health impact of boredom among young people: Correlational and multi-wave longitudinal evidence gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Personality
Cantarero, K., Van Tilburg, W., Gąsiorowska, A. and Igou, E., (2022). The Efficient Measurement of Individual Differences in Meaning Motivation: The Need for Sense-Making Short Form (NSM-SF). Frontiers in Psychology. 13, 945692-
Cantarero, K., van Tilburg, WAP. and Smoktunowicz, E., (2021). Affirming Basic Psychological Needs Promotes Mental Well-Being During the COVID-19 Outbreak. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 12 (5), 821-828
Moynihan, AB., Igou, ER. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2021). Bored stiff: The relationship between meaninglessness, sexual sensation seeking, and promiscuous attitudes via boredom susceptibility. Personality and Individual Differences. 168, 110295-110295
Krys, K., Park, J., Kocimska-Zych, A., Kosiarczyk, A., Selim, HA., Wojtczuk-Turek, A., Haas, BW., Uchida, Y., Torres, C., Capaldi, CA., Bond, MH., Zelenski, JM., Lun, VM-C., Maricchiolo, F., Vauclair, C-M., Poláčková Šolcová, I., Sirlopú, D., Xing, C., Vignoles, VL., van Tilburg, WAP., Teyssier, J., Sun, C-R., Stoyanova, S., Serdarevich, U., Schwarz, B., Sargautyte, R., Røysamb, E., Romashov, V., Rizwan, M., Pavlović, Z., Pavlopoulos, V., van Osch, Y., Okvitawanli, A., Nadi, A., Nader, M., Nur Fariza, M., Mosca, O., Mohorić, T., Barrientos, PE., Malyonova, A., Liu, X., Lee, JH., Kwiatkowska, A., Kronberger, N., Klůzová Kračmárová, L., Kascakova, N., Işık, İ., Igou, ER., Igbokwe, DO., Hanke-Boer, D., Gavreliuc, A., Garðarsdóttir, RB., Fülöp, M., Gamsakhurdia, V., Esteves, CS., Domínguez-Espinosa, A., Denoux, P., Charkviani, S., Baltin, A., Mira, ADM., Appoh, L., Albert, I., Akotia, CS. and Adamovic, M., (2021). Personal Life Satisfaction as a Measure of Societal Happiness is an Individualistic Presumption: Evidence from Fifty Countries. Journal of Happiness Studies. 22 (5), 2197-2214
Maher, PJ., Igou, ER. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2021). Nostalgia relieves the disillusioned mind. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 92, 104061-104061
Van Tilburg, W., Saadi, A. and Mahadevan, N., (2021). Citizen Vain? Exposure to the UK Citizenship Test Predicts Milder Demands from Immigrants Across the Political Spectrum. British Journal of Social Psychology. 60 (3), 888-901
Moynihan, A., Igou, E. and Van Tilburg, W., (2021). Existential Escape of the Bored: A Review of Meaning-Regulation Processes Under Boredom. European Review of Social Psychology. 32 (1), 161-200
Tam, KYY., Van Tilburg, W. and Chan, CS., (2021). What is Boredom Proneness? A Comparison of Three Characterizations. Journal of Personality. 89 (4), 831-846
Byrka, K., Cantarero, K., Dolinski, D. and Van Tilburg, W., (2021). Consequences of Sisyphean Efforts: Meaningless Effort decreases motivation to engage in subsequent conservation behaviors through disappointment. Sustainability. 13 (10), 5716-5716
Cantarero, K., Van Tilburg, W., Gąsiorowska, A. and Wojciszke, B., (2021). The need for sense-making as a personal resource: Conceptualization and scale development. Current Psychology
Brosowsky, N., Van Tilburg, W., Scholer, A., Boylan, J., Seli, P. and Danckert, J., (2021). Boredom proneness, political orientation and adherence to social- distancing in the pandemic.. Motivation and Emotion. 45 (5), 631-640
Tam, K., Van Tilburg, W., Chan, C., Igou, E. and Lau, H., (2021). Attention Drifting in and out: The Boredom Feedback Model. Personality and Social Psychology Review. 25 (3), 251-272
Kılıç, A., Van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2020). Risk‐taking increases under boredom. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. 33 (3), 257-269
Maher, PJ., Igou, ER. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2020). Disillusionment: A prototype analysis. Cognition and Emotion. 34 (5), 947-959
Dommett, EJ., Gardner, B. and van Tilburg, W., (2020). Staff and students perception of lecture capture. The Internet and Higher Education. 46, 100732-100732
Van Tilburg, WAP. and Mahadevan, N., (2020). When Imitating Successful Others Fails: Accidentally Successful Exemplars Inspire Risky Decisions and can Hamper Performance. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 73 (6), 941-956
Cantarero, K., Białobrzeska, O. and Van Tilburg, W., (2020). Social Psychological Bulletin Special Topic on Psychosocial Functioning During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Social Psychological Bulletin. 15 (4)
Cantarero, K., van Tilburg, WAP., Kuźma, B., Gąsiorowska, A. and Wojciszke, B., (2019). Some people probably need to make more sense: An exploratory study on individual differences and the need for sense-making. Polish Psychological Bulletin. 50 (2), 114-118
Krys, K., Zelenski, JM., Capaldi, CA., Park, J., Tilburg, W., Osch, Y., Haas, BW., Bond, MH., Dominguez‐Espinoza, A., Xing, C., Igbokwe, DO., Kwiatkowska, A., Luzniak‐Piecha, M., Nader, M., Rizwan, M., Zhu, Z. and Uchida, Y., (2019). Putting the “We” Into Well‐being: Using Collectivism‐Themed Measures of Well‐Being Attenuates Well‐being's Association With Individualism. Asian Journal of Social Psychology. 22 (3), 256-267
Maher, PJ., Van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2019). Lost in Multidimensional Space: Epistemic Motivations Define and Distinguish Negative Affect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 45 (9), 1409-1424
van Tilburg, WAP., Igou, ER., Maher, PJ. and Lennon, J., (2019). Various forms of existential distress are associated with aggressive tendencies. Personality and Individual Differences. 144, 111-119
van Tilburg, WAP., (2019). It's not unusual to be unusual (or: A different take on multivariate distributions of personality). Personality and Individual Differences. 139, 175-180
Cantarero, K., Byrka, K., Van Tilburg, WAP. and Komorowska, A., (2019). Saying Good and Bad Things Behind Someone’s Back or to Their Face: Perceived Source Selflessness and Trust in Information Matter When the Information Is Positive. Social Psychological Bulletin. 14 (1)
Moynihan, AB., Igou, ER. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2019). Lost in the crowd: Conformity as escape following disbelief in free will. European Journal of Social Psychology. 49 (3), 503-520
Dommett, EJ., Gardner, B. and van Tilburg, W., (2019). Staff and student views of lecture capture: a qualitative study. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education. 16 (1)
Zhou, X., van Tilburg, WAP., Mei, D., Wildschut, T. and Sedikides, C., (2019). Hungering for the past: Nostalgic food labels increase purchase intentions and actual consumption. Appetite. 140, 151-158
Tilburg, WAP., Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T. and Vingerhoets, AJJM., (2019). How nostalgia infuses life with meaning: From social connectedness to self‐continuity. European Journal of Social Psychology. 49 (3), 521-532
van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2019). Dreaming of a Brighter Future: Anticipating Happiness Instills Meaning in Life. Journal of Happiness Studies. 20 (2), 541-559
Coughlan, G., Igou, ER., van Tilburg, WAP., Kinsella, EL. and Ritchie, TD., (2019). On Boredom and Perceptions of Heroes: A Meaning-Regulation Approach to Heroism. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 59 (4), 455-473
van Tilburg, WAP., Igou, ER., Maher, PJ., Moynihan, AB. and Martin, DG., (2019). Bored like Hell: Religiosity reduces boredom and tempers the quest for meaning.. Emotion. 19 (2), 255-269
van Tilburg, WAP., Bruder, M., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C. and Göritz, AS., (2019). An appraisal profile of nostalgia.. Emotion. 19 (1), 21-36
Dommett, EJ., van Tilburg, W. and Gardner, B., (2019). A case study: Views on the practice of opting in and out of lecture capture. Education and Information Technologies. 24 (5), 3075-3090
van Tilburg, WAP., Wildschut, T. and Sedikides, C., (2018). Nostalgia’s place among self-relevant emotions. Cognition and Emotion. 32 (4), 742-759
Igou, ER., van Tilburg, WAP., Kinsella, EL. and Buckley, LK., (2018). On the existential road from regret to heroism: Searching for meaning in life. Frontiers in Psychology. 9 (DEC), 2375-
Cantarero, K., Van Tilburg, WAP. and Szarota, P., (2018). Differentiating everyday lies: A typology of lies based on beneficiary and motivation. Personality and Individual Differences. 134, 252-260
Maher, PJ., Igou, ER. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2018). Brexit, Trump, and the Polarizing Effect of Disillusionment. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 9 (2), 205-213
van Tilburg, WAP., Sedikides, C. and Wildschut, T., (2018). Adverse Weather Evokes Nostalgia. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 44 (7), 984-995
Krys, K., Capaldi, CA., van Tilburg, W., Lipp, OV., Bond, MH., Vauclair, C-M., Manickam, LSS., Domínguez-Espinosa, A., Torres, C., Lun, VM-C., Teyssier, J., Miles, LK., Hansen, K., Park, J., Wagner, W., Yu, AA., Xing, C., Wise, R., Sun, C-R., Siddiqui, RS., Salem, R., Rizwan, M., Pavlopoulos, V., Nader, M., Maricchiolo, F., Malbran, M., Javangwe, G., Işık, İ., Igbokwe, DO., Hur, T., Hassan, A., Gonzalez, A., Fülöp, M., Denoux, P., Cenko, E., Chkhaidze, A., Shmeleva, E., Antalíková, R. and Ahmed, RA., (2018). Catching up with wonderful women: The women-are-wonderful effect is smaller in more gender egalitarian societies. International Journal of Psychology. 53, 21-26
Chan, CS., van Tilburg, WAP., Igou, ER., Poon, CYS., Tam, KYY., Wong, VUT. and Cheung, SK., (2018). Situational meaninglessness and state boredom: Cross-sectional and experience-sampling findings. Motivation and Emotion. 42 (4), 555-565
Moynihan, AB., Igou, ER. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2017). Boredom Increases Impulsiveness. Social Psychology. 48 (5), 293-309
van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2017). Boredom begs to differ: Differentiation from other negative emotions.. Emotion. 17 (2), 309-322
Moynihan, AB., Igou, ER. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2017). Free, connected, and meaningful: Free will beliefs promote meaningfulness through belongingness. Personality and Individual Differences. 107, 54-65
van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2017). Can boredom help? Increased prosocial intentions in response to boredom. Self and Identity. 16 (1), 82-96
Van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2016). Going to political extremes in response to boredom. European Journal of Social Psychology. 46 (6), 687-699
Krys, K., -Melanie Vauclair, C., Capaldi, CA., Lun, VM-C., Bond, MH., Domínguez-Espinosa, A., Torres, C., Lipp, OV., Manickam, LSS., Xing, C., Antalíková, R., Pavlopoulos, V., Teyssier, J., Hur, T., Hansen, K., Szarota, P., Ahmed, RA., Burtceva, E., Chkhaidze, A., Cenko, E., Denoux, P., Fülöp, M., Hassan, A., Igbokwe, DO., Işık, İ., Javangwe, G., Malbran, M., Maricchiolo, F., Mikarsa, H., Miles, LK., Nader, M., Park, J., Rizwan, M., Salem, R., Schwarz, B., Shah, I., Sun, C-R., van Tilburg, W., Wagner, W., Wise, R. and Yu, AA., (2016). Be Careful Where You Smile: Culture Shapes Judgments of Intelligence and Honesty of Smiling Individuals. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 40 (2), 101-116
van Tilburg, WAP., Sedikides, C. and Wildschut, T., (2015). The mnemonic muse: Nostalgia fosters creativity through openness to experience. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 59, 1-7
Igou, ER. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2015). Ahead of others in the authorship order: names with middle initials appear earlier in author lists of academic articles in psychology. Frontiers in Psychology. 6 (MAR), 469-
Moynihan, AB., Van Tilburg, WAP., Igou, ER., Wisman, A., Donnelly, AE. and Mulcaire, JB., (2015). Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self. Frontiers in Psychology. 6 (APR), 369-
Cantarero, K. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2014). Too tired to taint the truth: Ego-depletion reduces other-benefiting dishonesty. European Journal of Social Psychology. 44 (7), 743-747
van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2014). Moving Onwards: An Action Continuation Strategy in Finding the Way. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. 27 (5), 408-418
van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2014). The impact of middle names: Middle name initials enhance evaluations of intellectual performance. European Journal of Social Psychology. 44 (4), 400-411
Van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2014). From Van Gogh to Lady Gaga: Artist eccentricity increases perceived artistic skill and art appreciation. European Journal of Social Psychology. 44 (2), 93-103
Wildschut, T., Bruder, M., Robertson, S., van Tilburg, WAP. and Sedikides, C., (2014). Collective nostalgia: A group-level emotion that confers unique benefits on the group.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 107 (5), 844-863
van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2013). On the meaningfulness of behavior: An expectancy x value approach. Motivation and Emotion. 37 (3), 373-388
Van Tilburg, W. and Igou, ER., (2013). De zin van een verveeld bestaan. In-Mind
Maher, PJ., Van Tilburg, WAP. and Van Den Tol, AJM., (2013). Meaning in music: Deviations from expectations in music prompt outgroup derogation. European Journal of Social Psychology. 43 (6), n/a-n/a
van Tilburg, WAP., Igou, ER. and Sedikides, C., (2013). In search of meaningfulness: Nostalgia as an antidote to boredom.. Emotion. 13 (3), 450-461
van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2012). On boredom: Lack of challenge and meaning as distinct boredom experiences. Motivation and Emotion. 36 (2), 181-194
van Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2011). On Boredom and Social Identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 37 (12), 1679-1691
Tilburg, WAP. and Igou, ER., (2011). On the meaningfulness of existence: When life salience boosts adherence to worldviews. European Journal of Social Psychology. 41 (6), 740-750
Book chapters (4)
Igou, E. and Van Tilburg, W., (2022). The Existential Sting of Boredom: Implications for Moral Judgments and Behavior. In: The Moral Psychology of Boredom. Editors: Elpidorou, A., . Rowman & Littlefield. 978-1786615381
Igou, ER. and Van Tilburg, W., (2019). A remedy for boredom: Natural environments as a psychological resource.. In: Physical Activity in Natural Settings Green and Blue Exercise. Editors: Donnelly, AA. and MacIntyre, TE., . Routledge. 1138894311. 9781138894310
Van Tilburg, W. and Igou, ER., (2019). The unbearable lightness of boredom: A pragmatic meaning-regulation hypothesis. In: Boredom Is in Your Mind A Shared Psychological-Philosophical Approach. Editors: Ros Velasco, J., . Springer. 11- 35. 3030263940. 9783030263942
Igou, ER., van Dongen, F. and van Tilburg, WAP., (2012). Preference Judgments (Individuals). In: Encyclopedia of Human Behavior. Elsevier. 153- 159. 9780080961804
Reports and Papers (1)
Van Tilburg, W. and Van Tilburg, L., Impossible Hypotheses and Effect Size Limits