Professor Paul van Lange receives international mentor award and outlines future of social psychology
At the end of May 2026, Paul van Lange, professor of Social Psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, will receive the prestigious APS Mentor Award from the Association for Psychological Science. This international award recognises his exceptional contribution to psychological science by mentoring and inspiring students and colleagues who have gone on to do world-leading research.
The award coincides with a period in which social psychology is rapidly changing and becoming increasingly global. Van Lange plays a key role in this and is uniquely qualified to identify which shifts are decisive for the future of the field.
Trends Van Lange identifies
- Global studies: Studies now cover 30+ countries and focus on norms, collaboration and trust, among other things. Van Lange's work shows that "gossip" in Western cultures is often a more valued social correction than direct confrontation - in contrast to many other cultures.
- Zooming out to larger contexts: Social psychology now involves broader social and environmental factors such as income inequality, social trust and climate. For example, Van Lange argues that seasonal influences (hot summers, harsh winters) play a role in our sense of time and planning ability.
- Moving away from the WEIRD perspective: The discipline is looking to connect more explicitly with the Global South and other regions, inspired by influential publications that addressed the limited western research domain.
- Free accessible handbook: In September 2025, the sixth edition of the legendary Handbook of Social Psychology will be published - available for free worldwide for the first time. Van Lange contributed a chapter on cooperation and competition. With this, the editors aim to make social psychology accessible to everyone, even in less affluent countries.
- Shift in human view: In his own research, he sees a shift from "rational self-interest" to a human view in which people are also strongly focused on equality and cooperation. This view of man holds true for individuals but not for groups. People underestimate "the goodness" of individual people and are not really optimistic about the goodness of people in the future.
The award will be presented 2026 at the APS Annual Convention (May 28-30, 2026) in Barcelona.
In addition, Van Lange will also receive the Distinguished Scholar Award from the SPSP in February 2026
