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Sander Thomaes has been appointed Professor of Developmental Psychology with effect from 1 May 2018. As part of his chair, Thomaes wishes to examine how children and young people develop knowledge about themselves and others. ‘Our psyche has been developed to make a connection with other people. The required psychological infrastructure is formed in our youth. We want to find out how this happens: how do children develop knowledge about themselves and others, knowledge which they need in order to enter into relationships?’

The new professor has been working at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ for quite some time, with a sidestep to the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Southampton from 2013 to 2016. ‘In Utrecht, in the Netherlands, we are used to a university which is predominantly organised along disciplinary lines. In Southampton, the university was arranged around themes. In the research centre I was affiliated with, this meant that I didn't just work with psychologists but also with sociologists and anthropologists, for example. I will be focusing on establishing the same kind of themed, interdisciplinary collaboration here in Utrecht.’

Dark personalities

Thomaes has been researching the self-image of young people for many years. He publishes articles about this in various scientific journals. Last year, he put together a special edition of the American Journal of Abnormal Psychology which was entirely dedicated to dark personalities. He also shares his findings with the popular media. For example, Thomaes recently wrote a long article for the and spoke about narcissism at the .