Leiden University Psychologist Wins Koningsheide Prize For Research On Feedback

Psychologist Ilse van de Groep found that people react more aggressively when receiving negative feedback. However, if people already exhibit persistent antisocial behavior they do not respond even more aggressively to negative feedback.This research earned her the Koningsheide Prize 2022 for the scientific development of forensic psychiatry/psychology.

on June 16, 2023, developmental psychologist Ilse van de Groep was awarded the Kingsheide Prize at the ‘Rumoer rond de forensische psychiatrie’ congress. At the conference, she gave a presentation on her research, ‘Resisting Aggression in Social Contexts’. She focused on the question, ‘Why do some people continue to exhibit persistent antisocial behavior into young adulthood, while others leave it behind?’.

To answer this question, she let participants take the Social Network Aggression Task (SNAT). This task measures how people respond to different forms of social feedback. Van de Groep concluded that people respond more aggressively when receiving negative feedback. However, if people already exhibit persistent antisocial behavior, they do not respond more aggressively to negative feedback. These effects can be seen both in their behavior level as in their brain activity.