doc. Mgr. Sylvie Graf, Ph.D.
E-mail: sylvie.graf@psu.cas.cz
RESEARCH INTERESTS
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EDUCATION
| 2016 | Habilitation in Social Psychology, Masaryk University Habilitation Thesis: Czechs and Their Neighbors: Primary and Secondary Transfer Effect of Intergroup Contact in Five Central European Countries |
| 2006 –2010 |
Ph.D. studies at Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies, and Czech Academy of Sciences |
| 6/2010 | Ph.D. degree in Social Psychology (summa cum laude) Dissertation: Intergroup Attitudes and Contact in a Czech-Austrian Border Region |
| 2000 – 2006 | MA studies at Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts |
| 6/2006 | MA degree in Psychology (summa cum laude) MA Thesis: Personality in Cultural Context |
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
| 1/2017 - present | Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Switzerland – senior researcher, Marie Curie Fellow |
| 5/2018 - 8/2018 | maternity leave |
| 3/2008 - present since 8/2019 | Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic – leading senior researcher |
| 5/2016 - 10/2016 | maternity leave |
| Since 2021 | Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic – external supervisor of PhD students (2 ongoing), member of the Subject Area Board of Psychology |
| 2015 - present | Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic – external supervisor of PhD students (3 awarded PhD) |
| 2009 - 2010 | Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic – lecturer |
| 2008 - present | Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic – external lecturer, external supervisor of MA students |
RESEARCH PROJECTS FUNDED BY GRANT AGENCIES
| 10/2020–9/2024 | Principal investigator, member of consortium of the Marie S. Curie International Training Network MSCA-ITN-2020 953326 G-VERSITY "Achieving Gender Diversity" awarded by the European Commission. |
| 1/2020–12/2022 | Principal investigator of the project 20-01214S "Mutual perception of acculturation preferences in majority and immigrants: An intergroup perspective" awarded by the Czech Science Foundation. |
| 1/2017–7/2019 | Principal investigator of the Marie S. Curie Individual Fellowship MSCA-IF-2015-EF 703495 IMMIGRANTS "The Effects of Media News about Immigrants on Majority’s Attitudes and Behaviors toward Immigrants" awarded by the European Commission. |
| 1/2017–12/2019 | Collaborator on the project 17-14387S "The effect of intergroup contact on acculturation strategies and support for minority rights: A longitudinal perspective in majority and minority" by the Czech Science Foundation. |
| 1/2013–12/2016 | Principal investigator of the project 13-25656S "Determinants of Intergroup Relations: An Integrated Model of Intergroup Attitudes, Contact, Personality-, and Socially-Anchored Factors" awarded by theCzech Science Foundation. |
| 1/2010–12/2012 | Collaborator on the project P407/10/2394 "Intergroup Attitudes and Contact in five Central European Countries" by the Czech Science Foundation. |
| 1/2007–12/2009 | Collaborator on the project 406/07/1561 "Judgement of National Stereotypes in the Context of a Five-Factor Model" by the Czech Science Foundation. |
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH VISITS
| 1/2016–3/2016 | International Short Visit by the Swiss National Science Foundation, University of Bern, Switzerland (Prof. Sabine Sczesny) |
| 11/2015 | Travel Grant by the European Association of Social Psychology at the Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Switzerland |
| 11/2013–12/2013 | Short Visit Grant by the European Social Cognition Network 2 at the Oxford Centre for the Study of Intergroup Conflict, University of Oxford, UK (Prof. Miles Hewstone) |
| 10/2012–6/2013 | Research visit at the University of Newcastle, Australia, sponsored by the Award for International Collaboration by the Czech Academy of Sciences and by the University of Newcastle’s Emerging Research Leadership Program awarded to Profs. Stefania Paolini and Mark Rubin |
| 7/2012 | Research visit at the Oxford Centre for the Study of Intergroup Conflict, University of Oxford, UK (Prof. Miles Hewstone) |
| 9/2007–3/2008 | Research Scholarship awarded by the University of Zurich, Switzerland, at the Department of Applied Psychology (Prof. Alexandra Freund) |
| 1/2007–5/2008 | European Ph.D. on Social Representations and Communication, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy |
| 6/2007 | Research visit at the Centre for Inter-Group Relations, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany |
| 8/2006 | Scholarship awarded by the European Association of Social Psychology Summer School of Exp. Social Psychology, University of Padua, Italy |
| 2/2004-6/2004 | Erasmus Scholarship at the University of Aarhus, Denmark |
AWARDS
| 4/2022 | Top Cited Paper Award from the Journal of Social Issues for the paper "The generalization of intergroup contact effects: Emerging research, policy relevance, and future directions" |
| 11/2018 | International Collaboration Award for the book “Czechs and their neighbors: Intergroup attitudes and contact in Central Europe” (first author) by the Czech and Slovak Academy of Sciences |
| 6/2015 | Otto Wichterle Award by the Czech Academy of Sciences for exceptionally outstanding young scientists at the Czech Academy of Sciences who remarkably contributed to the advancement of scientific knowledge in a given area of science |
| 10/2014 | Nomination for the Comenius Early Career Award by the European Federation of Psychologists’ Association to young academics from Europe who made an original contribution to psychology as a science by the Union of Psychologists’ Associations of the Czech Republic |
| 5/2014 | Best Paper Award for "Nouns cut slices: Effects of linguistic forms on intergroup bias" by the International Association for Language and Social Psychology and SAGE Journal of Language and Social Psychology for the paper’s innovations, rigorous methodology, and its overall contribution to the development of the social psychology of language |
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
| 7/2022 | Teaching and supervision of workshop on Intergroup Relations at the Summer School of the European Association of Social Psychology |
| 5/2021 | Organizer of an international webinar “Antigypsyism and the situation of the Roma in six European countries”, Section of Intercultural Psychology, Czech-Moravian Psychological Society |
| 6/2019–7/2020 | Chair for Psychology of Intergroup Relations at the Scientific Committee of the 2020 General Meeting of the European Association of Social Psychology |
| 4/2019 | Organizer and speaker at the expert meeting “How mass media shape the perception of others: The refugee crisis and post-conflict societies”, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ (covered by Czech Radio) |
| 4/2017 | Organizer and speaker at the expert meeting “Social minorities and cultural differences”, Czech Academy of Sciences. |
| 4/2015 | Organizer of the expert meeting „The nature of prejudice: 60 years after Allport“, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ |
| 2/2014 | Founder and head of the Brno Lab of Intergroup Processes, Czech Academy of Sciences |
| 12/2012–present | Member of editorial board of Journal for Social and Political Psychology |
| 12/2012–present | Ad hoc reviewer for Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, European Journal of Social Psychology; Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, etc. |
| 1/2009–7/2010 | General secretary of the 15th European Conference on Personality, Brno, Czech Republic |
CURRENT INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
Stereotypes about the Protagonists of the COVID-19 Pandemic led by Patrick Kotzur (Durham University, UK) Therese Friehs (University of Hagen, Germany), Adrian Stanciu (Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences, Germany).
Intergroup Interactions and Personality States led by Maarten van Zalk (Osnabrück, Germany).
International Situation Project led by David Funder (University of Riverside, U.S.)
Cross-Cultural Project on Fundamental Social Motives led by Douglas T. Kenrick (Arizona State University, U.S.)
Valence and Arousal Project led by Mischelle Yik (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
International Study of Meta-Norms led by Kimmo Eriksson (Stockholm University, Sweden)
Towards Gender Harmony Project led by Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka (University of Gdańsk, Poland)
PAST INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
COST Action: CA15101 Comparative Analysis of Conspiracy Theories led by Peter Knight (University of Manchester, UK) and Michael Butter (University of Tübingen, Germany)
Ageing as Future: Future-related activities regarding age and aging in cross-cultural perspective Grant by the Volkswagen Stiftung led by Frieder R. Lang (Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany), Stephan Lessenich (München, Germany), and Klaus Rothermund (Jena, Germany)
Social mindfulness across the globe led by Niels J. van Doesum (Leiden University, the Netherlands), Paul A. M. Van Lange (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands), and Ryan Murphy (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Power, Status, and Legitimacy Project led by Mark Brandt (Tilburg University, the Netherlands)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
European Association of Social Psychology
European Federation of Psychologists' Associations: EFPA
– member of Board on Cultural and Ethnic Diversity (9/2014–present)
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
– member of Internationalization Committee (3/2014–12/2016)
Czech-Moravian Psychological Society
– head of Section for Intercultural Psychology (9/2014–present)
6 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS [full list]
Boin, J., Rupar, M., Graf, S., Neji, S., Spiegler, O., & Swart, H. (2021). The generalization of intergroup contact effects: Emerging research, policy relevance, and future directions. Journal of Social Issues, 77(1), 105–131. IF = 3.424 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12419 -=TOP CITED PAPER AWARD=-
Graf, S., Linhartova, P., & Sczesny, S. (2020). The effects of news report valence and linguistic labels on prejudice against social minorities. Media Psychology, 23(2), 215–243. IF = 3.530 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2019.1584571
Graf, S., Paolini, S., & Rubin, M. (2020). Does intimacy counteract or amplify the detrimental effects of negative intergroup contact on attitudes? Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 23(2), 214–225. IF = 3.129 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430218767026
Graf, S., & Sczesny, S. (2019). Intergroup contact with migrants is linked to support for migrants through attitudes, especially in people who are politically right wing. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 73, 102–106. IF = 1.981 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2019.09.001
Graf, S., Paolini, S., & Rubin, M. (2014). Negative intergroup contact is more influential, but positive intergroup contact is more common: Assessing contact prominence and contact prevalence in five Central European countries. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44(6), 536–547. IF = 1.712 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2052
Graf, S., Bilewicz, M., Finell, E., & Geschke, D. (2013). Nouns cut slices: Effects of linguistic forms on intergroup bias. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 43(1), 62–83. IF = 1.490 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X12463209 -=BEST PAPER AWARD=-
Web of Science H-index: 12; citations (without self-citations): 551
Google Scholar H-index: 18; citations: 1550
INVITED TALKS
How to challenge intolerance? The role of intergroup contact, mass media, and language use. Keynote lecture, Polish Association of Social Psychology Conference, Gdańsk, Poland.
The role of mass communication in shaping attitudes toward social minorities. Keynote lecture, 28 July 2021, 25th International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, virtual.
Between Cultures: Intergroup Exchanges Researched and Lived. Invited talk for the
The effect of news about the refugee crisis on attitudes toward migrants and immigration policies. Expert meeting “How mass media shape the perception of others: The refugee crisis and post-conflict societies”, 10 April 2019, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ.
How mass media shape our attitudes toward immigrants? Language, content of news, and perspective of speakers. 5 December 2019, Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
The role of language in journalists’ work. 20 November 2018, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague as part of the H2020 project 809498 "People between the lines: Building skills for quality migration coverage".
Media shape majority’s attitudes toward immigrants: Effects of linguistic labels for ethnicity, report valence and intergroup contact. 2 February 2018, Social Psychology Lab, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Angst vor dem Fremden: Wie die Medien Einstellungen gegenüber Fremden beeinflussen [Fear of the foreign: How mass media influence attitudes toward foreigners]. 9 December 2017, Psychology Update Refresher, Forum für medizinische Fortbildung, Zurich, Switzerland.
Immigrants in the mass media: Effects of linguistic labels for ethnicity, report valence and intergroup contact through mass media. 30 November 2017, Institute of Communication and Media Studies; Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland.
The effect of mass media news on majority attitudes toward stigmatized minorities. Expert meeting “Social minorities and cultural differences”, 5 April 2017, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, CZ.
Valence asymmetries in the effect of intergroup contact on outgroup attitudes, 15 April 2015, Institute of Psychology, FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany.
Challenging prejudice: The effect of language, media exposure and intergroup contact on outgroup attitudes, 6 November 2014, Center for Research on Prejudice, University of Warsaw, Poland.
Negative intergroup contact is more influential, but positive intergroup contact is more common: An ecological assessment of contact prominence and contact prevalence in five European countries, 29 May 2014, Department of Psychology, Işık University, Turkey.
Prevalent positive and prominent negative contact with outgroup members maintain outgroup attitudes, 20 March 2013, School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Graf, S., & Sczesny, S. (2019). Personal experiences with asylum seekers can disrupt the normative influence of mass-media on solidarity with asylum seekers. Conference of the Swiss Psychological Society, Bern, Switzerland.
Graf, S., & Sczesny, S. (2019). Direct but not mass-mediated intergroup contact with migrants is linked to behaviour supporting migrants through attitudes: The role of political orientation. 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Lisbon, Portugal.
Graf, S., Arlt, D., Eugster, B. & Sczesny, S. (2019). Intergroup communication about migration shapes attitudes toward migrants and immigration policies: The role of emotions and cognitions. The EASP Meeting on Intergroup Communication, Bologna, Italy.
Graf, S., & Sczesny, S. (2017). Valence of media news about immigrants and immigrants’ labels shape majority’s prejudice against immigrants. 18th General Meeting of the European Association of Social Psychology, Granada, Spain, Book of Abstracts, p. 168.
Graf, S., Paolini, S., & Rubin, M. (2014). Ecological evidence that positive intergroup contact is more common, but negative contact is more influential. 17th General Meeting of the European Association of Social Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Book of Abstracts, p. 170.
TEACHING
| 9/2021–12/2021 | MA seminar “Reduction of Social Discrimination”, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland |
| 2/2020–6/2020 | MA seminar “Stereotypes and Prejudice”, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland |
| 9/2019–2/2020 | Participation at MA lecture “Psychology Constructs: Theory and Methodology”, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic |
| 9/2014–present | Participation at PhD courses “Theory and Methodology of Science”, “Social psychology”, “Data Analysis”, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University |
| 9/2009–6/2010 | BA seminars “Social Psychology”, “Work and Organizational Psychology”, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University, Brno |
| 2008–present | Participation at MA lecture “Social Psychological Theories”, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic |
SUPERVISION
PhD students
Roman Koky; Dissertation: “Intergroup contact and attitudes in the normative context of relationship between the Roma and Czech majority.” (Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University)
Serena Haines; Dissertation: “Challenging manhood—When men strive for male-atypical professions.” European Training Network G-VERSITY (Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University)
Vladislav Krivoshchekov; Dissertation: “Making a good case for gender diversity — Pathbreaking organisational communication” European Training Network G-VERSITY (Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bern)
Past PhD students
Mirjana Rupar; Dissertation: “The effects of different forms of intergroup contact on reconciliation: The role of intergroup threat, victimhood, and trust.” PhD awarded 2018, summa cum laude; nominated for the Prize of the Rector of the Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno.
Tibor Zingora; Dissertation: “The potential and pitfalls of intergroup contact in fighting prejudice and discrimination.” PhD awarded 2018, summa cum laude; Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno.
Shpend Voca; Dissertation: “Intergroup relations in post-conflict societies: Promoting intergroup contact and forgiveness among former adversaries.” PhD awarded 2020, summa cum laude; Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno.
Stanislava Kovacova; Dissertation: “The relations of Czech majority to Vietnamese and Roma minority in the Czech Republic” (Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno)
Past MA students
Roman Koky; MA thesis: “Majority through the eyes of the Roma: The effect of social norms in the relationship between intergroup contact and attitudes” (2021; Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University)
Roya Mohagheghi; MA thesis: “The effect of labels for immigrants on attitudes towards immigrants and immigration politics” (2018; Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bern)
Amel Lina Boural; MA thesis: “The effect of media news on attitudes towards immigrants and immigration politics” (2018; Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bern)
Larissa Dahinden; MA thesis: “The effect of short- and long-term mass-mediated intergroup contact on attitudes towards German immigrants in Switzerland” (2018; Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bern)
Katharina Tscherrig; MA thesis: “The effect of different language used in media news on attitudes towards immigrants” (2017; Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bern)
Petra Dvořáková; MA thesis: “The role of empathy in the secondary transfer effect of contact with people with disabilities on attitudes towards Roma minority” (2016; Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University)
Martin Valenta; MA thesis: “The effect of labeling outgroup with nouns and adjectives in positive, negative and ambivalent context” (2015; Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University)
Pavla Linhartová; MA thesis: “The effect of intergroup contact and language abstractness conveyed by news about minorities on attitudes towards minorities” (2014; Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University)
Tibor Zingora; MA thesis: “Roma and Vietnamese through the eyes of majority: The role of threat in the relationship between intergroup contact and attitudes” (2014; Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University)
Linda Černochová; MA thesis: “Representations of competent manager characteristics” (2010; Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University)
PUBLIC OUTREACH
Postránecká, B. (2021). Jak se zkoumají předsudky a můžeme se jich zbavit? [How prejudice is researched and can we get rid of it?] Magazin Reporter Premium.
Graf, S. & Koky, R. (2021). Pravidla komunity zlepšují vztahy. [The rules of a community improve intergroup relations]. Mozaika, Vesmír.
ROMEA (2021). Jak vidí Romové většinovou společnost? [How do the Roma see the majority society?] Research of R. Koky & S. Graf introduced for ROMEA (Czech Roma medial and educational agency).
Matušková, L. (2021). Jak se Romové cítí ve většinové společnosti? Vědce zajímá romská perspektiva [How do Roma feel in majority society? Scientists are interested in the Roma's perspective.] Research of R. Koky & S. Graf introduced for the Czech Academy of Sciences.
CORDIS (2020). Migration and migrant integration: Enabling knowledge-based approaches to migration policy. EU research results webpage introducing the outcomes of IMMIGRANTS Marie Curie Fellowship awarded to Sylvie Graf.
CORDIS (2020). Exploring the media’s influence on how European citizens think and feel about immigration. EU research results webpage introducing the outcomes of IMMIGRANTS Marie Curie Fellowship awarded to Sylvie Graf.
Graf, S. (2019). Information and language in news impact prejudice against minorities. Media release of the University of Bern published 53 times in Swiss and Lichtenstein media (e.g., „Sprachliche Feinheiten prägen Vorurteile gegenüber Migranten“ Tages Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung, Wirtschaftregional, Der Bund Online, Liechtensteiner Volksblatt, Liechtensteiner Vaterland, Radio FM1; „Les finesses du langage marquent les préjugés“ 20 Minutes, Romandie; „Les migrants dans les médias - les préjugés se voient renforcés“ www.psychologie.ch/fr).
Graf, S. (2019). Immigrants in the media. ČRo Plus. (Czech Radio covering the expert meeting „How mass media shape the perception of others: The refugee crisis and postconflict societies.“)
Graf, S., Hřebíčková, M., Petrjánošová, M., & Leix, A. (2018). Češi jsou lepší než si myslí [Czechs are better than they think]. AB Bulletin of the Czech Acedemy of Sciences, 11 2018, 12–13.
Graf, S. (2018). Posílený předsudek. Jak jazyk ovlivňuje naše vnímání druhých lidí. [Enhanced prejudice. How language influences our perception of others]. Vesmír, 97, 354–355.
Graf, S. (2018). Jak bojovat s předsudky? Příklad vztahů mezi lidmi pěti národností ve střední Evropě [How to fight prejudice? An example of relations among people of five nationalities in central Europe] Interview for the series “Successful projects of Czech scientists” about the outcomes of the research project 13-25656S evaluated as "excellent" by the Czech Science Foundation.
Hřebíčková, M., Graf, S., & Chvojkova, P. (2018). V Psychologickém ústavu AV ČR zkoumají vietnamské Čechy. [The Institute of Psychology at the Czech Academy of Sciences research Vietnamese Czechs] Interview about the research on Czech minorities for South East Asia – liaison.
Graf, S. (2017). Prolomit začarovaný kruh předsudků. [Breaking the vicious circle of prejudice.] Interview about the effects of newspaper reports on prejudice for the journal 7th GENERATION.
Graf, S. (2016). Co s námi dělají obavy z cizinců? O dopadech uprchlické krize a možnostech boje s předsudky. [What does the fear of foreigners do to us? About the impact of the refugee crisis and possibilities to challenge prejudice.] Interview for the news server EuroZpravy.cz.
Graf, S. (2015). Interview about research projects on prejudice, stereotypes and language intergroup context for the Czech Academy Bulletin.
Hřebíčková, M., Graf, S., & Petrjánošová, M. (2012). Slováci jsou našinci: Mladí Češi považují své slovenské vrstevníky za vlastní, naopak to neplatí. [Slovaks are people like you and me: Young Czechs consider their Slovak peers similar to themselves but not vice versa.] Lidové noviny, 22.12.2012, p. 4. Příloha Orientace. [in Czech]
Hrebickova, M., Leix, A. & Graf, S. (2012). Poláci nás milují. [Poles do love us.] Lidové noviny, 16.6. 2012, pp. 1-2. Příloha Orientace.
Kourilova, S., & Hrebickova, M. (2009). Evropa národních stereotypů. [Europe of national stereotypes.] Lidové noviny, 7.2. 2009, p. 24. Příloha Věda, Orientace/Esej.
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