Royal Holloway University of London

We’re a pioneering university, steeped in history and culture, yet constantly evolving and adapting to the demands of modern higher education.

Our university was founded by two social reformers who pioneered the ideal of education and knowledge for all who could benefit. Their vision lives on today. As one of the UK’s leading research-intensive universities, we are home to some of the world’s foremost authorities in the sciences, arts, business, economics and law. As teachers and researchers they change lives, expand minds and help current and future leaders understand power and responsibility. We are strengthened by diversity, and welcome students and academics who travel from all over the world to study and work here, ensuring an international and multi-cultural perspective within a close-knit and historic campus.

Ryan McKay

Professor

Manos Tsakiris

Professor of Psychology

Royal Holloway University of London, The Warburg Institute

October 31, 2024

Understanding the path from epistemic trust to political leader choices via dogmatism

To address a “growing concern about a breakdown in societal and communicated trust,” NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris and colleagues investigated the relationship between epistemic trust and people’s choices of (un)trustworthy […]

February 8, 2024

Addressing climate change with behavioral science

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris is among around 250 researchers who conducted a global study to investigate people’s motivations when it comes to beliefs and behaviors about climate change. Their research […]

September 30, 2023

Rethinking the Role of Cognitive Biases in Delusion-Like Beliefs

Examining the relationships between delusion-like beliefs in the general population and cognitive biases associated with these tasks, NOMIS researcher Ryan McKay and colleagues suggest that some seemingly well-established relationships between […]

July 19, 2023

Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns use fundamentally different moral rhetoric, study finds

New research by NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris and colleagues reveals how candidates in US presidential primary elections use distinct moral rhetoric on social media to appeal to voters. Their findings were […]

March 27, 2023

First of its kind study reveals how facial transplant recipient recognizes new appearance as their own

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris and fellow researchers from the UK and USA conducted the first ever investigation into how a facial transplant recipient started to accept their new appearance as […]

March 8, 2023

Delusions as epistemic hypervigilance

Drawing on the literature on epistemic vigilance, NOMIS researcher Ryan McKay and Hugo Mercier have published a paper illuminating a conundrum related to delusions: Deluded individuals seem to display both […]

December 7, 2022

People’s misperception of "fake faces" for real ones could erode social trust

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris and colleagues have published their findings in iScience showing that people are more likely to perceive artificially generated faces as real than real ones. The findings […]

September 26, 2022

NOMIS releases first NOMIS Insight film featuring Manos Tsakiris, BIAS project

Marking the completion of the Body and Image in Arts and Sciences (BIAS) project, the NOMIS Foundation is delighted to release its first NOMIS Insight film featuring inaugural NOMIS Awardee […]

July 11, 2022

Non-political anger shifts political preferences towards stronger leaders

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris and colleagues published their findings in Nature Science Reports showing that anger that is not generated in a political context can shift political preferences in specific […]

April 11, 2022

Rhesus monkeys can perceive their own heartbeat

A study by NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris and colleagues has shown that rhesus macaques can perceive their own heartbeat. The work could provide an important model for future psychiatric research, […]

March 16, 2022

Ukraine: how social media images from the ground could be affecting our response to the war

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris has published an article in The Conversation describing the way social media has influenced the world’s response to the war in Ukraine and the resulting refugee […]

December 7, 2021

Psychologists reveal how we truly see ourselves by generating "mental selfies"

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris and colleagues show that our “mental selfies” can be affected by our beliefs about our personalities and our self-esteem. Their findings were published in Psychological Science. […]

August 16, 2021

The behavioural immune system protects us, but at what cost?

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris published an article in the digital magazine Psyche examining the sociobiological relationship between touch and disgust, and whether the lack of touch during the COVID-19 pandemic […]

May 17, 2021

When the lens is too wide: The political consequences of the visual dehumanization of refugees

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris and colleagues have demonstrated how images of refugees in the media dehumanize them and lead to political consequences. The research was published in Nature Humanities & […]

April 12, 2021

Serendipity interrupted: A life without social accidents

In an opinion piece published in Kathimerini on Apr. 8, NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a loss of serendipity in our social lives. […]

March 29, 2021

Manos Tsakiris co-editor of "The political brain: neurocognitive and computational mechanisms"

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris (Royal Holloway, University of London, and the Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London) and colleague Leor Zmigrod (University of Cambridge) have co-edited the […]

November 26, 2020

Manos Tsakiris elected president of the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris has been elected president of the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ESCAN) for 2021–2023. The European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience aims to […]

September 18, 2020

Manos Tsakiris: Politics is visceral

NOMIS Awardee Manos Tsakiris has published an essay in Aeon addressing visceral politics. In an age thick with anger and fear, we might dream of a purely rational politics but […]

October 31, 2024

A leader I can(not) trust: understanding the path from epistemic trust to political leader choices via dogmatism

Abstract: There is growing concern about the impact of declining political trust on democracies. Psychological research has introduced the concept of epistemic (mis)trust as a stable disposition acquired through development, which […]

February 7, 2024

Addressing climate change with behavioral science: A global intervention tournament in 63 countries

Abstract: Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we […]

December 6, 2022

The sound of swearing: Are there universal patterns in profanity?

Abstract: Why do swear words sound the way they do? Swear words are often thought to have sounds that render them especially fit for purpose, facilitating the expression of emotion and […]

July 30, 2022

COVID-19 and seasonal flu vaccination hesitancy: Links to personality and general intelligence in a large, UK cohort

Abstract: Vaccines are a powerful and relatively safe tool to protect against a range of serious diseases. Nonetheless, a sizeable minority of people express ‘vaccination hesitancy’. Accordingly, understanding the bases of […]

January 1, 2021

Collectively Jumping to Conclusions: Social Information Amplifies the Tendency to Gather Insufficient Data

Abstract: False beliefs can spread within societies even when they are costly and when individuals share access to the same objective reality. Research on the cultural evolution of misbeliefs has demonstrated […]