Staff profile

Short biography

I am a social psychologist with a passion for social change and music. I joined Durham in September 2020. Before moving to UK, I lived and worked in the Netherlands and Germany.

• 2020-present: Assistant professor in Quantitative Social Psychology, Durham University
• 2017-2020: Postdoctoral fellow in Social Psychology, Osnabrück University, Germany
• 2011-2016: PhD student and teaching fellow in Social Psychology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
• 2009-2011: Research master, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
• 2001-2009: Bachelor degree in Psychology and Bachelor Degree in Music Theory, University of Belgrade, Serbia

• Allyship
• Collective action
• Ideology
• Morality
• Polarization
• Prejudice
• Social change

Journal Article

• Khati, B., Kutlaca, M., McPhetres, J., & Paolini, S. (online). Moral disagreements: Unearthing pathways to constructive and destructive behavioral responses. Political Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.13077
• Sağlamöz, A. F., Kutlaca, M., & Leite, A. C. (2025). Your needs or mine? The role of allies' needs and their perceptions of disadvantaged groups' needs in motivating solidarity‐based actions. British Journal of Social Psychology, 64(1), Article e12855. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12855
• Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., Van Lissa, C. J., Stroebe, W., Kreienkamp, J., Agostini, M., Bélanger, J. J., Gützkow, B., Abakoumkin, G., Khaiyom, J. H. A., Ahmedi, V., Akkas, H., Almenara, C. A., Atta, M., Bagci, S. C., Basel, S., Berisha Kida, E., Bernardo, A. B. I., Buttrick, N. R., Chobthamkit, P., …Leander, N. P. (2024). Identifying important individual‐ and country‐level predictors of conspiracy theorizing: A machine learning analysis. European Journal of Social Psychology, 53(6), 1191-1203. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2968
• Marinthe, G., Brown, G., Cristea, M., & Kutlaca, M. (2024). Predicting vaccination hesitancy: The role of basic needs satisfaction and institutional trust. Vaccine, 42(16), 3592-3600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.04.068
• Abakoumkin, G., Tseliou, E., McCabe, K. O., Lemay, E. P., Stroebe, W., Agostini, M., Bélanger, J. J., Gützkow, B., Kreienkamp, J., Kutlaca, M., VanDellen, M. R., Abdul Khaiyom, J. H., Ahmedi, V., Akkas, H., Almenara, C. A., Atta, M., Bagci, S. C., Basel, S., Berisha Kida, E., Bernardo, A. B. I., …Leander, N. P. (2024). Conceptual replication and extension of health behavior theories' predictions in the context of COVID‐19: Evidence across countries and over time. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 18(2), Article e12909. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12909
• Koudenburg, N., Kutlaca, M., & Kuppens, T. (2024). The experience and emergence of attitudinal consensus in conversations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 54(1), 66-80. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2992
• Walter, L., & Kutlaca, M. (2024). Tolerance of political intolerance: The impact of context and partisanship on public approval of politicians’ uncivil behavior. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 27(1), 158-177. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302231156719
• Hartwich, L., Kutlaca, M., Ksenofontov, I., Jetten, J., & Becker, J. C. (2023). (Not so) powerful allies? Decision makers’ reactions to advantaged group allies in collective action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 53(7), 1576-1592. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2997
• Han, Q., Zheng, B., Leander, N. P., Agostini, M., Gützkow, B., Kreienkamp, J., Kutlaca, M., Lemay, E. P., Stroebe, W., vanDellen, M. R., & Bélanger, J. J. (2023). Impact of National Pandemic Lockdowns on Perceived Threat of Immigrants: A Natural Quasi-Experiment Across 23 Countries. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(7), 796-807. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221127487
• Hartwich, L., Radke, H. R., Kutlaca, M., & Becker, J. C. (2023). The Injustice–Efficacy Tradeoff: Counteracting Indirect Effects of Goal Proximity on Collective Action. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(2), 173-184. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221093108
• Kutlaca, M., & Radke, H. R. (2023). Towards an understanding of performative allyship: Definition, antecedents and consequences. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17(2), Article 12724. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12724
• Dougall, I., Vasiljevic, M., Kutlaca, M., & Weick, M. (2023). Socioeconomic inequalities in mental health and wellbeing among UK students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Clarifying underlying mechanisms. PLoS ONE, 18(11), Article e0292842. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292842
• Radke, H. R., Kutlaca, M., & Becker, J. C. (2022). Disadvantaged group members’ evaluations and support for allies: Investigating the role of communication style and group membership. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 25(6), 1437-1456. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302211010932
• van Breen, J. A., Kutlaca, M., Koç, Y., Jeronimus, B. F., Reitsema, A. M., Jovanović, V., Agostini, M., Bélanger, J. J., Gützkow, B., Kreienkamp, J., Abakoumkin, G., Khaiyom, J. H. A., Ahmedi, V., Akkas, H., Almenara, C. A., Atta, M., Bagci, S. C., Basel, S., Berisha Kida, E., Bernardo, A. B., …Leander, N. P. (2022). Lockdown Lives: A Longitudinal Study of Inter-Relationships Among Feelings of Loneliness, Social Contacts, and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Lockdown in Early 2020. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 48(9), 1315-1330. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211036602
• Kutlaca, M., Radke, H. R., & Becker, J. C. (2022). The Impact of Including Advantaged Groups in Collective Action Against Social Inequality on Politicized Identification of Observers From Disadvantaged and Advantaged Groups. Political Psychology, 43(2), 297-315. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12755
• Radke, H. R., Kutlaca, M., & Becker, J. C. (2022). Applying the Dynamic Dual Pathway Model of Approach Coping to Collective Action Among Advantaged Group Allies and Disadvantaged Group Members. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 875848. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.875848
• Estevan-Reina, L., de Lemus, S., Megías, J., Kutlaca, M., Belmonte-García, M., & Becker, J. (2021). Allies against sexism: the impact of men’s egalitarian versus paternalistic confrontation on women’s empowerment and well-being. Sex Roles, 84, 536-553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-020-01184-4
• Radke, H. R., Kutlaca, M., Siem, B., Wright, S. C., & Becker, J. C. (2020). Beyond Allyship: Motivations for Advantaged Group Members to Engage in Action for Disadvantaged Groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24(4), 291-315. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868320918698
• Kutlaca, M., Radke, H. R., Iyer, A., & Becker, J. C. (2020). Understanding allies’ participation in social change: A multiple perspectives approach. European Journal of Social Psychology, 50(6), 1248-1258. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2720
• Kutlaca, M., van Zomeren, M., & Epstude, K. (2020). Friends or foes? How activists and non-activists perceive and evaluate each other. PLoS ONE, 15(4), Article e0230918. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230918
• Kutlaca, M., Becker, J., & Radke, H. (2020). A hero for the outgroup, a black sheep for the ingroup: Societal perceptions of those who confront discrimination. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 88, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103832
• Becker, J. C., Radke, H. R., & Kutlaca, M. (2019). Stopping wolves in the wild and legitimizing meat consumption: Effects of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance on animal-related behaviors. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 22(6), 804-817. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430218824409
• van Bezouw, M. J., & Kutlaca, M. (2019). What do we want? Examining the motivating role of goals in social movement mobilization. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 7(1), https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v7i1.796
• Sloot, D., Kutlaca, M., Medugorac, V., & Carman, P. (2018). Recycling Alone or Protesting Together? Values as a Basis for Pro-environmental Social Change Actions. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01229
• van Zomeren, M., Kutlaca, M., & Turner-Zwinkels, F. (2018). Integrating who “we” are with what “we” (will not) stand for: A further extension of the Social Identity Model of Collective Action. European Review of Social Psychology, 29(1), 122-160. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2018.1479347
• Kutlaca, M., van Zomeren, M., & Epstude, K. (2017). Our Right to a Steady Ground: Perceived Rights Violations Motivate Collective Action Against Human-Caused Earthquakes. Environment and Behavior, 51(3), https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916517747658
• Kutlaca, M., Van Zomeren, M., & Epstude, K. (2016). Preaching to, or Beyond, the Choir. Social Psychology, 47(1), https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000254
• Täuber, S., van Zomeren, M., & Kutlaca, M. (2015). Should the moral core of climate issues be emphasized or downplayed in public discourse? Three ways to successfully manage the double-edged sword of moral communication. Climatic Change, 130(3), 453-464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1200-6
• van Zomeren, M., Täuber, S., Kutlaca, M., & Wermser, F. L. (2015). The Janus-Faced Self. European Journal of Personality, 29(3), 326 - 362. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2006