Aleksandra Cichocka

Aleksandra Cichocka is professor of political psychology at the University of Kent. She examines how people understand, defend, and act on their political beliefs, especially in times of rising polarisation and uncertainty. A central theme in her work is how unmet psychological needs — such as the need for control, belonging, or recognition — can shape political attitudes and behaviours. She studies why people are drawn to particular ideologies, conspiracy beliefs, political engagement, and policy responses to social and environmental challenges. Aleksandra uses a wide range of methods, including experiments, field studies, cross-national surveys, and computational analyses of language and social media. Her interdisciplinary research connects psychology with political science, sociology, law, and linguistics, and has appeared in leading journals including Nature, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Psychological Bulletin. Her work has been recognized with awards from the International Society of Political Psychology and the European Association of Social Psychology.