Dr. Tom Damen

Martinus J. Langeveldgebouw
Heidelberglaan 1
Kamer 0
3584 CS Utrecht

My research focuses on responsibility judgments and the feeling of acting known as agency. Specifically, I am investigating when agency and responsibility emerge, not only in fundamental contexts but also in applied settings. What makes my research unique is that it additionally focuses on the way agency and responsibility influence cognition and behavior. My research ambition is now to help organizations craft contexts that evoke responsibility and thereby promote learning, motivation, and ethical behavior.

I have considerable experience as a teacher and supervised more than 125 theses in the bachelor and (research) master. My course on Power and Leadership was the best evaluated course in Utrecht’s entire 88-course Psychology program (2017). As I am convinced that 21st-century students require innovative learning experiences, I am pioneering the use of podcasting in education.

Selected Publications:

  • Wang, Y., Damen, T. G. E., & Aarts, H. (2017). Uncovering effects of self-control and stimulus-driven action selection on the sense of agency. Consciousness and Cognition, 55, 245-253 [5Y-IF: 2.38].

  • Damen, T. G. E., van Baaren, R. B., Brass, M., Aarts, H., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2015). Put your plan into action: The influence of action plans on agency and responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108, 850–866 [IF: 7.30].

  • Damen, T. G. E., Müller, B. C., van Baaren, R. B., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2015). Re-examining the Agentic Shift: The sense of agency influences the effectiveness of (self)persuasion. PloS ONE, e0128635 [IF: 3.39]

  • Damen, T. G. E. (2015). Influencing the sense of agency. PhD dissertation, BSI/Radboud University.

  • Damen, T. G. E., Dijksterhuis, A., & van Baaren, R. B. (2014). On the other hand: Nondominant hand use Increases Agency. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5, 680–683 [IF:2.72].

  • Damen, T. G. E., Dijksterhuis, A., & van Baaren, R. B. (2014). Authority defied: Need for cognitive closure influences regulatory control when resisting authority. Journal of Personality, 82, 310-316 [IF: 4.26].

  • Damen, T. G. E., van Baaren, R. B., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2014). You should read this! Perceiving and acting upon action primes influences sense of agency. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 50, 21–26 [IF: 2.97]

  • Damen, T. G. E., van Baaren, R. B., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2013). Lees dit eens! Het waarnemen van en handelen naar actie primes beïnvloedt het gevoel van agency. Jaarboek Sociale Psychologie, 61-64.

  • van den Bos, K., Müller, P. A., Damen, T. G. E. (2011). A behavioral disinhibition hypothesis of interventions in moral dilemmas. Emotion, 3, 281-283 [IF: 4.27].