Tomasz Besta

Associate Professor in PSYCHOLOGY

Tomasz Besta
Curriculum Vitae

ORCID 0000-0001-6209-3677

Institute of Psychology
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Gdańsk
Bażyńskiego 4
80-309 Gdańsk POLAND

  • Laboratory of Environmental Psychology and Psychology of Intergroup Relations at Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk

Tomasz Besta works as associate professor at the Institute of Psychology of the University of Gdańsk. He is involved in research in the area of personality and social psychology. His main research interests are the analysis of intergroup relations, collective actions, radicalization, and group dynamics. He also conducts studies on cognitive biases and on the role of scientific communication in the perception of science and technology, and is involved in national and international research projects, as well as workshops and lectures promoting science. Co-author of the books „Między Grupami. Przewodnik po relacjach z ludźmi, którzy się od nas różnią [Between Groups. A guide to relationships with people who are different from us] ”(ed. Smak Słowa), and „Walcz, protestuj, zmieniaj świat. Psychologia aktywizmu [Fight, protest, change the World. Psychology of Activism]” (ed. Smak Słowa).

Teaching Interests
  • Intergroup Violence and Ethnic Conflicts
  • Psychology of Activism and Social Change
  • Social Psychology
  • Personality Psychology
Research Interests
  • Intergroup relations
  • Collective action
  • Self-verification and self-enhancement motives
  • Identity fusion
  • Radical behaviours and attitudes
  • Political and religious extremism
  • Environmental psychology
Selected publications

Besta, T., Gómez, Á., Vázquez, A. (2014). Readiness to deny group’s wrongdoings and willingness to fight for its members: the role of the Poles’ identity fusion with the country and religious group. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 2(1), 49‒55. doi: 10.5114/cipp.2014.43101

Jaśkiewicz, M., Besta, T. (2014). Is easy access related to better life? Walkability and overlapping of personal and communal identity as predictors of quality of life. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 9(3), 505-516, DOI: 10.1007/s11482-013-9246-6

Besta, T. (2014). Overlap between personal and group identity and its relation with radical pro-group attitudes: Data from a Central European cultural context. Studia Psychologica, 56(1), 67-81.

Jaśkiewicz, M., Besta, T. (2014). Heart and mind in public transport: Analysis of motives, satisfaction and psychological correlates of public transportation usage in the Gdańsk-Sopot-Gdynia Tricity agglomeration in Poland. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 26, Part A, 92–101.

Swann, W. B., Buhrmester, M. D., Gómez, Á., Jettem, J., Bastian, B., Vázquez, A., Ariyanto, A., Besta, T., Christ, O., Cui, L., Finchilescu, G., González, R., Goto, N., Hornsey, M., Susianto, H., Sharma, S., Zhang, A. (2014). What makes a group worth dying for? Identity fusion fosters perception of familial ties, promoting self-sacrifice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(6), 912-926. doi: 10.1037/a0036089

Besta, T., Szulc, M., & Jaśkiewicz, M. (2015). Political extremism, group membership, and personality traits: Who accepts violence? Revista de Psicología Social: International Journal of Social Psychology, 3, 563-585. doi:10.1080/02134748.2015.1065085

Błażek, M., Kaźmierczak, M., Besta, T. (2015). Sense of purpose in life and escape from Self as the predictors of quality of life in clinical samples. Journal of Religion and Health, 54(2), 517-523. DOI: 10.1007/s10943-014-9833-3

Besta, T., Mattingly, B., & Błażek, M. (2016). When membership gives strength to act: Inclusion of the group into the self and feeling of personal agency. The Journal of Social Psychology, 156(1), 56-73. doi:10.1080/00224545.2015.10

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Besta, T. (2016). Which is better in fat times and in lean times: The Macho Man vs. the Nice Guy? Priming effects on Polish and Norwegian students’ mate preferences. Current Psychology, online first. doi:10.1007/s12144-016-9530-3

Teymoori, A., Jetten, J., Bastian, B., Ariyanto, A., Autin, F., Ayub, N., Badea, C., Besta, T., Butera, F., Costa-Lopes, R., Cui, L., Fantini, C., Finchilescu, G., Gaertner, L., Gollwitzer, M., Gómez, Á., Gonzalez, R., Hong, Y. Y., Jensen, D. H., Karasawa, M., Kessler, T., Klein, O., Lima, M., Mähönen, T. A., Megevand, L., Morton, T., Paladino, P., Polya, T., Ruza, A., Shahrazad, W., Sharma, S., Torres, A. R., van der Bles, A. M., Wohl, M. (2016). Revisiting the measurement of anomie. Plos One. e0158370. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0158370

Mrozowska, S., Besta, T., Kijewska, B., Goodwin, R., Crone, T. (2016). Trust in the source of received information as a factor related to public perception of shale gas drilling. Current Issue in Personality Psychology, 4(4), 240–252.

Jaśkiewicz, M., Besta, T. (2016). Polish version of the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS-Poland). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(11), 1090; doi: 10.3390/ijerph13111090.

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Besta, T., Adamska, K., Jaśkiewicz, M., Jurek, P., Vandello, J. A. (2016). If my masculinity is threatened I won’t support gender equality? The role of agentic self- stereotyping in restoration of manhood and perception of gender relations. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 17(3), 274-284. doi:10.1037/ men0000016
Jaśkiewicz, M., Besta, T. (2017). Out of place’ in the city: Development of socio-spatial disorder sensitivity scale in urban settings. Journal of Community Psychology, 45(2), 250–266 doi: 10.1002/jcop.21846.

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Jurek, P., Besta, T., & Badowska, S. (2017). Self- presentation strategies, fear of success and anticipation of future success among university and high school students. Frontiers in Psychology, 8:1884. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01884

Besta, T., Jaśkiewicz, M., Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Lawendowski, R., & Zawadzka, A. M. (2018). What do I gain from joining crowds? Does self‐expansion help to explain the relationship between identity fusion, group efficacy and collective action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48, O152-O167. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2332

Besta, T. (2018). Independent and Interdependent? Agentic and Communal? Self- construals of People Fused with a Group. Anales de Psicología / Annals of Psychology, 43(1), 123-134. http://dx.doi.org/10.6018/analesps.34.1.266201

Besta, T., Bojko, J., Pytlos, A., Tomiałowicz, E., Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Bäck, E. A., Vázquez Botana, A. (2018). Individual self-expansion through the involvement in multiple social groups and its relationship with self-efficacy. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 49(1), 77–85. doi: 10.24425/119474

Kossakowski, R., & Besta, T. (2018). Football, Conservative Values and a Feeling of Oneness with the Group: A Study of Polish Football Fandom. East European Politics & Societies and Cultures, online first. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325418756991

Besta, T., & Kossakowski, R. (2018). Football supporters: Group identity, perception of in-group and out-group members and pro-group action tendencies. Revista de Psicología del Deporte / Journal of Sport Psychology, 27(2), 15-22.

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Jurek, P., Besta, T., Korzeniewska, L., Seibt, B. (2018). De-gender them! Gendered vs cooperative division of housework – cross-cultural comparison of Polish and Norwegian students. Current Psychology, online first. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9915-6

Smith, H. J., Pettigrew, T. F., Jetten, J.,Ariyanto, A., Autin, F., Ayub, N., Badea, C., Besta, T., Butera, F., Costa-Lopes, R., Cui, L., Fantini, C., Finchilescu, G., Gaertner, L., Gollwitzer, M., Gómez, A., González, R., Hong, Y. Y., Jensen, D. H., Karasawa, M., Kessler, T., Klein, O., Lima, M., Renvik, T. A., Jasinskaja, I., Megevand, L., Morton, T., Paladino, P., Polya, T., Ruza, A., Shahrazad, W., Shama, S., Teymoori, A., Torres, A. R., van der Bles, A. M., Wohl, M.
(2018). Cultural values moderate the impact of relative deprivation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(8), 1183–1218. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022118784213

Smeekes, A., Jetten, J., Verkuyten, M., Wohl, M.A., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Ariyanto, A., Autin, F., Ayub, N., Badea, C., Besta, T., Butera, F., Costa-Lopes, R., Cui, L., Fantini, C., Finchilescu, G., Gaertner, L., Gollwitzer, M., Gómez, A, González, R., Hong, Y. Y., Jensen, D. H., Karasawa, M., Kessler, T., Klein, O., Lima, M., Renvik, T. A., Megevand, L., Morton, T., Paladino, P., Polya, T., Ruza, A., Shahrazad, W., Sharma, S., Teymoori, A., Torres, A. R., van der Bles, A. M. (2018). Regaining in-group continuity in times of anxiety about the group’s future: A study on the role of collective nostalgia across 27 countries. Social Psychology, 49(6), 311-329. doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000350

Lawendowski, R., Besta, T. (2018). Is participation in music festivals a self-expansion opportunity? Identity, self-perception, and the importance of music’s functions. Musicae Scientiae, online first, https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864918792593

Jasko, K., & Besta, T. (2018). Activism–Radicalization–Protest: An Introduction to a Special Section. Social Psychological Bulletin, 13(4), e32244. doi:https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.v13i4.32244

Jaśkiewicz, M., & Besta, T. (2018). Place attachment and collective action tendency. Social Psychological Bulletin, 13(4), e25612. doi:https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.v13i4.25612

Besta, T., & Zawadzka, A. M. (2019). Expansion of the self of activists and nonactivists involved in mass gatherings for collective action. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 22(2), 182-199. doi:10.1177/1368430217735903

Besta, T., Jurek, P., Iwanowska, M., & Szostakowski, D. (2019). Multiple group membership and collective actions of opinion-based internet groups: The case of protests against abortion law restriction in Poland. Computers in Human Behavior, Online first. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.01.025

Jurek, P., Besta, T. (2019). Employees’ self-expansion as a mediator between perceived work conditions and work engagement and productive behaviors. Current Psychology, online first.
Besta, T., Akbas, G., Renström, E. A., Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., & Vazquez, A. (2019). Liking Low-Status? Contextual and individual differences in attributional biases of low-status outgroup members. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 7(1), 192-212. doi:https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v7i1.951

Sprong, S., Jetten, J., Wang, Z., Peters, K., Mols, F.,Verkuyten, M., Bastian, B., Ariyanto, A., Autin, F., Ayub, N., Badea, C., Besta, T., Butera, F., Costa-Lopes, R., Cui, L., Fantini, C., Finchilescu, G., Gaertner, L., Gollwitzer, M., Gómez, A, González, R., Hong, Y. Y., Jensen, D. H., Karasawa, M., Kessler, T., Klein, O., Lima, M., Jasinskaja, I., Megevand, L., Morton, T., Paladino, P., Polya, T., Renvik, T. A., Ruza, A., Shahrazad, W., Sharma, S., Smith, H. J., Torres, A. R., van der Bles, A. M., Wohl, M.A. (2019). “Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now”: Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader. Psychological Science, 30(11), 1625-1637. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619875472

Żadkowska M., Kosakowska-Berezecka N., Szlendak T., Besta, T. (2020). When migrant men become more involved in household and childcare duties – the case of Polish migrants in Norway. Journal of Family Studies, online first, DOI:10.1080/13229400.2020.1712222