Staff profile

Short biography

I am a social psychologist with a passion for social change and music. I joined Durham in September 2020. Before moving to UK, I lived and worked in the Netherlands and Germany.

• 2020-present: Assistant professor in Quantitative Social Psychology, Durham University
• 2017-2020: Postdoctoral fellow in Social Psychology, Osnabrück University, Germany
• 2011-2016: PhD student and teaching fellow in Social Psychology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
• 2009-2011: Research master, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
• 2001-2009: Bachelor degree in Psychology and Bachelor Degree in Music Theory, University of Belgrade, Serbia

• Social change
• Collective action
• Allyship
• Prejudice
• Polarization
• Ideology
• Morality

• Quantitative Social Psychology

Journal Article

• Kutlaca, Maja & Radke, Helena R. M. (2023). Towards an understanding of performative allyship: Definition, antecedents and consequences. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 17(2): 12724.
• Hartwich, Lea, Radke, Helena R. M., Kutlaca, Maja & Becker, Julia C. (2023). The Injustice–Efficacy Tradeoff: Counteracting Indirect Effects of Goal Proximity on Collective Action. Social Psychological and Personality Science 14(2): 173–184.
• Han, Qing, Zheng, Bang, Leander, N. Pontus, Agostini, Maximilian, Gützkow, Ben, Kreienkamp, Jannis, Kutlaca, Maja, Lemay, Edward P., Stroebe, Wolfgang, vanDellen, Michelle R. & Bélanger, Jocelyn J. (2022). Impact of National Pandemic Lockdowns on Perceived Threat of Immigrants: A Natural Quasi-Experiment Across 23 Countries. Social Psychological and Personality Science
• Radke, Helena R. M., Kutlaca, Maja & Becker, Julia C. (2022). Applying the Dynamic Dual Pathway Model of Approach Coping to Collective Action Among Advantaged Group Allies and Disadvantaged Group Members. Frontiers in Psychology 13: 875848.
• van Breen, Jolien A., Kutlaca, Maja, Koç, Yasin, Jeronimus, Bertus F., Reitsema, Anne Margit, Jovanović, Veljko, Agostini, Maximilian, Bélanger, Jocelyn J., Gützkow, Ben, Kreienkamp, Jannis, Abakoumkin, Georgios, Khaiyom, Jamilah Hanum Abdul, Ahmedi, Vjollca, Akkas, Handan, Almenara, Carlos A., Atta, Mohsin, Bagci, Sabahat Cigdem, Basel, Sima, Berisha Kida, Edona, Bernardo, Allan B. I., Buttrick, Nicholas R., Chobthamkit, Phatthanakit, Choi, Hoon-Seok, Cristea, Mioara, Csaba, Sára, Damnjanovic, Kaja, Danyliuk, Ivan, Dash, Arobindu, Di Santo, Daniela, Douglas, Karen M., Enea, Violeta, Faller, Daiane Gracieli, Fitzsimons, Gavan, Gheorghiu, Alexandra, Gómez, Ángel, Hamaidia, Ali, Han, Qing, Helmy, Mai, Hudiyana, Joevarian, Jiang, Ding-Yu, Kamenov, Željka, Kende, Anna, Keng, Shian-Ling, Kieu, Tra Thi Thanh, Kovyazina, Kamila, Kozytska, Inna, Krause, Joshua, Kruglanski, Arie W., Kurapov, Anton, Lantos, Nóra Anna, Lemay, Edward P., Lesmana, Cokorda Bagus Jaya, Louis, Winnifred R., Lueders, Adrian, Malik, Najma Iqbal, Martinez, Anton, McCabe, Kira, Mehulić, Jasmina, Milla, Mirra Noor, Mohammed, Idris, Molinario, Erica, Moyano, Manuel, Muhammad, Hayat, Mula, Silvana, Muluk, Hamdi, Myroniuk, Solomiia, Najafi, Reza, Nisa, Claudia F., Nyúl, Boglárka, O’Keefe, Paul A., Olivas Osuna, Jose Javier, Osin, Evgeny N., Park, Joonha, Pica, Gennaro, Pierro, Antonio, Rees, Jonas, Resta, Elena, Rullo, Marika, Ryan, Michelle K., Samekin, Adil, Santtila, Pekka, Sasin, Edyta, Schumpe, Birga Mareen, Selim, Heyla A., Stanton, Michael Vicente, Sultana, Samiah, Sutton, Robbie M., Tseliou, Eleftheria, Utsugi, Akira, van Lissa, Caspar J., van Veen, Kees, vanDellen, Michelle R., Vázquez, Alexandra, Wollast, Robin, Wai-Lan Yeung, Victoria, Zand, Somayeh, Žeželj, Iris Lav, Zheng, Bang, Zick, Andreas, Zúñiga, Claudia & Leander, N. Pontus (2022). Lockdown Lives: A Longitudinal Study of Inter-Relationships Among Feelings of Loneliness, Social Contacts, and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Lockdown in Early 2020. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 48(9): 014616722110366, 1315–1330.
• Radke, Helena R. M., Kutlaca, Maja & Becker, Julia C. (2022). Disadvantaged group members’ evaluations and support for allies: Investigating the role of communication style and group membership. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 25(6): 1437–1456.
• Kutlaca, Maja, Radke, Helena R. M. & Becker, Julia C. (2022). The Impact of Including Advantaged Groups in Collective Action Against Social Inequality on Politicized Identification of Observers From Disadvantaged and Advantaged Groups. Political Psychology 43(2): 297-315.
• Estevan-Reina, L., de Lemus, S. Megías, J.L. Kutlaca, M. Belmonte-García, M. & Becker, J. (2021). Allies against sexism: the impact of men’s egalitarian versus paternalistic confrontation on women’s empowerment and well-being. Sex Roles 84: 536-553.
• Kutlaca, Maja, Radke, Helena R. M., Iyer, Aarti & Becker, Julia C. (2020). Understanding allies’ participation in social change: A multiple perspectives approach. European Journal of Social Psychology 50(6): 1248-1258.
• Kutlaca, Maja, van Zomeren, Martijn & Epstude, Kai (2020). Friends or foes? How activists and non-activists perceive and evaluate each other. PLOS ONE 15(4): e0230918.
• Radke, Helena R. M., Kutlaca, Maja, Siem, Birte, Wright, Stephen C. & Becker, Julia C. (2020). Beyond Allyship: Motivations for Advantaged Group Members to Engage in Action for Disadvantaged Groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review 108886832091869.
• Kutlaca, Maja, Becker, Julia & Radke, Helena (2020). A hero for the outgroup, a black sheep for the ingroup: Societal perceptions of those who confront discrimination. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 88: 103832.
• van Bezouw, Maarten Johannes & Kutlaca, Maja (2019). What do we want? Examining the motivating role of goals in social movement mobilization. Journal of Social and Political Psychology 7(1): 33.
• Kutlaca, Maja, van Zomeren, Martijn & Epstude, Kai (2019). Our Right to a Steady Ground: Perceived Rights Violations Motivate Collective Action Against Human-Caused Earthquakes. Environment and Behavior 51(3): 315.
• Becker, Julia C., Radke, Helena R. M. & Kutlaca, Maja (2019). Stopping wolves in the wild and legitimizing meat consumption: Effects of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance on animal-related behaviors. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 22(6): 804.
• van Zomeren, Martijn, Kutlaca, Maja & Turner-Zwinkels, Felicity (2018). Integrating who “we” are with what “we” (will not) stand for: A further extension of the Social Identity Model of Collective Action. European Review of Social Psychology 29(1): 122.
• Sloot, Daniel, Kutlaca, Maja, Medugorac, Vanja & Carman, Petra (2018). Recycling Alone or Protesting Together? Values as a Basis for Pro-environmental Social Change Actions. Frontiers in Psychology 9.
• Kutlaca, Maja, Van Zomeren, Martijn & Epstude, Kai (2016). Preaching to, or Beyond, the Choir. Social Psychology 47(1): 15.
• Täuber, Susanne, van Zomeren, Martijn & Kutlaca, Maja (2015). Should the moral core of climate issues be emphasized or downplayed in public discourse? Three ways to successfully manage the double-edged sword of moral communication. Climatic Change 130(3): 453.
• van Zomeren, Martijn, Täuber, Susanne, Kutlaca, Maja & Wermser, Frederik L. (2015). The Janus-Faced Self. European Journal of Personality 29(3): 326.