Division of Psychology (PSY)

Psychology, the science of human thinking and behaviour, is a fascinating subject. At the Division of Psychology we educate psychologists and psychotherapists who are well prepared to face the challenges of working life and future clients in the best possible way. We also educate students of cognitive science and students with a deep knowledge of psychology, ready to put knowledge into practice. Our research contributes among other things to pioneering knowledge on treatment of psychological health problems, cognitive abilities in children and adults, social interplay and group processes.

Research

Three kids eating on a pre-school.

Preschool Meals

Learning doesn't take a lunchbreak, so what happens when young children eat together in preschools? This project examines the multimodal and discursive practices that scaffold eating and social interaction during preschool mealtimes.

A group of people sitting in a dark room listning to a speaker.

WHOLE - Research on organizational and social work environment

Management, organizational structure and reward systems are factors that may affect organizational and social work environment. How do they affect individuals’ work experience, occurrence of bullying, levels of reporting in sick and perceived health.

Rainbow toy.

Physical, mental and reproductive health among sexual and gender minorities during pregnancy, childbirth and first year of parenting

The interdisciplinary research project s will follow the health and experiences of LGBTQ people during pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenthood to contribute to important knowledge in an unexplored area.

A refugee.s

SAHA digital interventions for refugee mental health problems

Detecting and treating mental health problems for refugees - development of and research on digital tools for the assessment and treatment of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, sleep problems and migration-related mental health problems.

Birds flying in a formation in the sky.

International Network for Well-Being

Our research comprises the whole field of the Science of Well-Being within different populations to promote health and the study of biopsychosocial resilience in the face of the challenges of the 21st century.

A close-up of a woman's hands typing on a laptop computer.

The Internet, Health and Clinical Psychology Research Group

The research group works with many different areas such as anxiety, depression and health problems. Many of the projects work with internet-based CBT, and the group carries out randomised controlled clinical trials.

A  person throws leftover pasta in the rubbish bin.

Try a little first: Communication strategies for reducing plate waste during preschool meals

Reducing 'plate waste' during preschool lunches is a delicate balance between food preferences, satiety and daring to taste new food. In this innovative project, we examine which communication strategies can help to reduce food waste.

An elderly man and a small child are looking at a cell phone together. They are sitting on a couch in a hospital waiting room.

Growing up with digital world

The recent surge in availability of digital media has made media accessible even to very young children. However, we know very little of the effects of digital media on infants social and cognitive development.

People on a beach.

Social Psychology

Social relations and social interaction affect how we behave and how we see and interpret our world. We are also affected by the context and the systems or organizations that we are in - it affects what we do but also how we feel.

Publications

2026

Anneli Andersson, Nilo Tayebi, Belma Isakovic, Henrik Larsson, Peter Larm, Antti Latvala, Hugo Hesser, Catherine Tuvblad, Brittany Evans (2026) Neighborhood social structure in Sweden: A latent transition analysis using registry data from 1991 to 2020 Cities, Vol. 168, Article 106466 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI

2025

Mikael Heimann (2025) Social, kognitiv och kommunikativ utveckling: om barns observationsinlärning och imitation
Ylva Gidhagen, Rolf Holmqvist, Fredrik Falkenstrom (2025) Rupture and repair in the working alliance among patients with substance use disorder Psychotherapy Research (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Artur Nilsson, Ali Teymoori (2025) The Dark Side of Ideology: Ideological Worldviews and Antidemocratic Attitudes Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Ismail Secer, Fatmanur Cimen, Sumeyye Ulas, Emrullah Ay, Eda Tatli, Danilo Garcia, Caner Sunay (2025) School Refusal and its Underlying Mechanisms: A Network Perspective on Individual and Environmental Determinants School Mental Health (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Kenny Skagerlund, Anna M. C. Karlsson, Mikael Skagenholt, Ulf Träff (2025) Mathematics anxiety and emotion regulation: A Swedish validation of the modified Abbreviated Mathematics Anxiety Scale, its relationship to mathematics performance, and emotion regulation strategies Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Victoria Aminoff, Laura Luisa Bielinski, Matilda Berg, Thomas Berger, Gerhard Andersson (2025) What therapists do during guidance in individually tailored internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for depressive symptoms: A content analysis Internet Interventions, Vol. 42, Article 100875 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Jane R. Salois, Kassidi L. Heinle, Laurie J. Slovarp, Marie E. Jette, Vinaya Manchaiah, George Vlaescu, Gerhard Andersson (2025) Internet-Based Behavioral Cough Suppression Therapy for Refractory Chronic Cough: A Randomized Controlled Trial American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Vol. 34, p. 2864-2876 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Carolina Lundqvist, David Ekholm (2025) Självbilden och maktspelet: Hur idrottens förtroendevalda balanserar legitimitet och globalt inflytande
Julia Aspernäs (2025) Who falls for misinformation?: Epistemic beliefs and political identity as predictors of conspiracy ideation, bullshit receptivity, and fallacies

Annual reports

The psychology division has several researchers and research groups. We cover a broad range of topics within psychology, including cognitive, developmental, social, health and clinical psychology. Different research methods are also represented. Researchers at the division work closely with other universities both nationally and internationally. We hope that the annual report will give an overview of the research conducted here.

Contact us

Staff