Dr. C. (Christin) Scholz
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
CW : Persuasive Communication
Area of expertise: Persuasive Communication, Psychological Mechanisms, Information Sharing, Social Influence, Social Neuroscience, fMRI
Visiting address
- Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
Postal address
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Postbus 15791
1001 NG Amsterdam
Contact details
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Research
To negotiate and implement effective responses to collective threats like pandemics, climate change, and polarization, diverse groups within society need to efficiently share and constructively discuss information.
As (tenured) Assistant Professor in Persuasive and Health Communication at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (University of Amsterdam), I investigate the "social life" of persuasive messaging. Specifically, my research examines how social interactions between individuals contribute to the spread of information through diverse populations and to the ways in which persuasive messages influence pro-social and health-related behaviors. To generate holistic theoretical and empirical approaches, I use multi-methodological study designs to examine and link relevant dynamics in individuals, groups and large populations. For instance, I have studied how neuropsychological mechanisms that underlie decisions to share information with others in individuals extrapolate to large-scale sharing patterns on social media.
Methods
- Experimentation (field and lab)
- fMRI
- Ecological momentary assessments
- Observation of large-scale online behavior (e.g. web scraping)
- Trackers (e.g. fitness trackers & geolocation tracking)
Grants and Honors
- Stimulus grant (2024, Amsterdam School of Communication Research)
- Co-applicant research priority area "Polarization" (2023, Faculty for Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam)
- Co-applicant Talent grant (2023, Amsterdam Brain and Cognition)
- Co-applicant project funding Templeton World Charity Foundation (2022)
- PhD grant (2022, Amsterdam School of Communication Research)
- DARPA Consultancy (2019-2022)
- Veni grant (2019, NWO)
- Marie-Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowship (2019, European Commission)
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Leadership and Administrative Roles
- Director Research Priority Area "Polarisation" Faculty for Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam
- Director ACHC Communication, Brain, and Society (CoBraS) lab within the Amsterdam Center for Health Communication (ACHC)
- Board member and open science director Amsterdam Center for Health Communication
- Departmental coordinator of the behavioral science lab of the Facultry for Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam
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Teaching, PhD Supervision & Internships
Teaching
Using R for Data Wrangling, Analysis, and Visualization
(Research) Master Thesis Supervision
PhD Supervision
Internships
The ACHC Communication, Brain and Society lab offers internship and thesis programs for students of the University of Amsterdam. We are an interdisciplinary team working at the intersection of communication science, psychology, and (social and cognitive) neuroscience. Learn more about our work here.
Who can apply?
We explicitly seek interdisciplinary and diverse perspectives in terms of disciplinary, personal, and cultural backgrounds to enrich our team. Students from any degree program of the University of Amsterdam with interests in our research program can apply by contacting Dr. Scholz (c.scholz@uva.nl). The three main criteria for the decision of whether you can or cannot join the lab are:
- Together, we are able to identify a good fit between your own interests and goals (e.g. what skills you want to develop) and the research agenda of the lab.
- There is enough space in the current team to ensure that your project gets enough attention.
- We are able to offer you appropriate reimbursement either in study credits or monetary reimbursement (subject to availability of funds).
What does an internship or thesis in the CoBraS lab look like?
Participation in the lab usually consists of an individual research project for each student (e.g. a secondary data analysis or added measures to an existing protocol) and participation in the daily activities of the lab, depending on current need and your goals with respect to skill development (e.g. data collection, study design, lab meetings, and/or data management and analysis). The program and expectations are always agreed upon between the student and Dr. Scholz at the beginning of the internship or thesis trajectory. Students have regular one-on-one meetings with Dr. Scholz in addition to lab meetings with the whole team.
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ACHC Communication, Brain, and Society (CoBraS) Lab
The CoBraS Lab aims combines theories and methods from communication science, psychology, and neuroscience to holistically explain and influence social dynamics of information spread and persuasion in the context of pro-social and health behaviors like alcohol consumption, political participation, and environmentally friendly actions. Among others, our work has examined ways in which neuropsychological mechanisms that underlie sharing in indivdiduals extrapolate to large-scale patterns of information spread and biases in information spread that are related to individual characteristics and group dynamics. To this end we employ multi-methodological designs combining traditional social science research methods such as surveys and lab and field experiments with neuroscientific methods.
Find out more about the CoBraS lab and about ACHC.
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Publications
- refereed (34)
- academic (4)
- professional (1)
- conference contributions (10)
- recognitions (11)
- doctoral thesis (1)
- datasets (1)
2024
- Derksen, M., Meirmans, S., Brenninkmeijer, J., Pols, J., de Boer, A., van Eyghen, H., Gayet, S., Groenwold, R., Hernaus, D., Huijnen, P., Jonker, N., de Kleijn, R., Kroll, C. F., Krypotos, A.-M., van der Laan, N., Luijken, K., Meijer, E., Pear, R. S. A., Peels, R., ... de Winter, J. (2024). Replication studies in The Netherlands: Lessons learned and recommendations for funders, publishers and editors, and universities. Accountability in Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2024.2383349
Doell, K. C., & International Collaboration to Understand Climate Action (2024). The International Climate Psychology Collaboration: Climate change-related data collected from 63 countries. Scientific Data, 11, Article 1066. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03865-1 [details]- Dolinšek, Š., Scholz, C., Giani, S., van Weert, J. C. M., van den Putte, B., & Meppelink, C. S. (2024). The role of mental well-being in the effects of persuasive health messages: A scoping review. Social Science & Medicine, 353, Article 117060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117060 [details]
- Falk, E. B., Scholz, C., Cooper, N., & Gomes, V. (in press). Behavior change and social influence. In Handbook of Social Psychology (6 ed.). Oxford University Press.
- Vlasceanu, M., Brick, C., Chan, H.-Y., Dubey, S., Geiger, S. J., Kankaanpää, R., Krouwel, A. P. M., Meijers, M. H. C., Scholz, C., & International Collaboration to Understand Climate Action (2024). Addressing climate change with behavioral science: A global intervention tournament in 63 countries. Science Advances, 10, Article eadj5778. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj5778 [details]
2023
- Chan, H. Y., Boksem, M. A. S., Venkatraman, V., Dietvorst, R. C., Scholz, C., Vo, K., Falk, E. B., & Smidts, A. (2023). Neural Signals of Video Advertisement Liking: Insights into Psychological Processes and Their Temporal Dynamics. Journal of Marketing Research, 61(5), 891-913. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437231194319
- Chan, H. Y., Scholz, C., Cosme, D., Martin, R. E., Benitez, C., Resnick, A., Carreras-Tartak, J., Nicole, C., Paul, A. M., & Falk, E. B. (2023). Neural signals predict information sharing across cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(44), Article e2313175120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2313175120 [details]
- Chang, L.-A., Armaos, K., Warns, L., Ma de Sousa, A. Q., Paauwe, F., Scholz, C., & Engelmann, J. B. (2023). Mentalizing in an economic games context is associated with enhanced activation and connectivity in the left temporoparietal junction. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 18(1), Article nsad023. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsad023 [details]
- Cosme, D., Scholz, C., Chan, H-Y., Doré, B. P., Pandey, P., Carreras-Tartak, J., Cooper, N., Paul, A., Burns, S. M., & Falk, E. B. (2023). Message self and social relevance increases intentions to share content: Correlational and causal evidence from six studies. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 152(1), 253–267. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001270 [details]
- Scholz, C., Baek, E. C., & Falk, E. B. (2023). Invoking self-related and social thoughts impacts online information sharing. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 18(1), Article nsad013. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsad013 [details]
- Sultan, M., Scholz, C., & van den Bos, W. (2023). Leaving traces behind: Using social media digital trace data to study adolescent wellbeing. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 10, Article 100281. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2023.100281 [details]
- Tveleneva, A., Scholz, C., Yoon, C., Lieberman, M. D., Cooper, N., O'Donnell, M. B., Falk, E. B., & Cascio, C. N. (2023). The relationship between agency, communion, and neural processes associated with conforming to social influence. Personality and Individual Differences, 213, Article 112299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2023.112299 [details]
- Wang, X., Scholz, C., Falk, E. B., & Lydon-Staley, D. M. (2023). Neuroimaging. In E. Y. Ho, C. L. Bylund, & J. C. M. van Weert (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication (Vol. 4). (The Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication series). Wiley Blackwell. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119678816.iehc0600 [details]
2022
- Meijers, M. H. C., Scholz, C., Torfadóttir, R. H., Wonneberger, A., & Markov, M. (2022). Correction to: Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic to combat climate change: comparing drivers of individual action in global crises. Journal of environmental studies and sciences, 12, 283. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-022-00749-x
- Meijers, M. H. C., Scholz, C., Torfadóttir, R. H., Wonneberger, A., & Markov, M. (2022). Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic to combat climate change: comparing drivers of individual action in global crises. Journal of environmental studies and sciences, 12(4), 272-282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-021-00727-9 [details]
- Scholz, C., Chan, H-Y., Poldrack, R. A., de Ridder, D. T. D., Smidts, A., & van der Laan, L. N. (2022). Can we have a second helping? A preregistered direct replication study on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying self-control. Human Brain Mapping, 43(16), 4995-5016. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26065 [details]
2021
- Baek, E. C., O'Donnell, M. B., Scholz, C., Pei, R., Garcia, J. O., Vettel, J. M., & Falk, E. B. (2021). Activity in the brain's valuation and mentalizing networks is associated with propagation of online recommendations. Scientific Reports, 11, Article 11196. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90420-2 [details]
- Chan, H-Y., Scholz, C., Baek, E. C., O'Donnell, M. B., & Falk, E. B. (2021). Being the gatekeeper: How thinking about sharing affects neural encoding of information. Cerebral Cortex, 31(8), 3939-3949. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab060 [details]
- Hendriks, H., Scholz, C., Larsen, H., De Bruijn, G-J., & Van den Putte, B. (2021). Intervening through Conversations: How Instructions Influence Conversational Valence and Binge Drinking Determinants. Health Communication, 36(6), 782-788. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1712524 [details]
2020
- Baek, E. C., Scholz, C., & Falk, E. B. (2020). The neuroscience of persuasion and information propagation: The key role of the mentalizing system. In K. Floyd, & R. Weber (Eds.), The handbook of communication science and biology (pp. 122-133). (ICA handbook series). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351235587-12 [details]
- Doré, B. P., Scholz, C., Baek, E. C., & Falk, E. B. (2020). Health news sharing is reflected in distributed reward-related brain activity. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 15(10), 1111-1119. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa129 [details]
- Huskey, R., Bue, A. C., Eden, A., Grall, C., Meshi, D., Prena, K., Schmälzle, R., Scholz, C., Turner, B. O., & Wilcox, S. (2020). Marr's tri-Level framework integrates biological explanation across communication subfields. Journal of Communication, 70(3), 356-378. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqaa007 [details]
- Scholz, C., & Falk, E. B. (2020). The Neuroscience of Information Sharing. In B. Foucault Welles, & S. Gonzáles-Bailón (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Networked Communication (pp. 285-307). Oxford University Press. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190460518.013.34 [details]
- Scholz, C., Baek, E. C., O'Donnell, M. B., & Falk, E. B. (2020). Decision-making about broad- and narrowcasting: A neuroscientific perspective. Media Psychology, 23(1), 131-155. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2019.1572522 [details]
- Scholz, C., Jovanova, M., Baek, E. C., & Falk, E. B. (2020). Media content sharing as a value-based decision. Current Opinion in Psychology, 31, 83-88. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.08.004 [details]
2019
- Doré, B. P., Cooper, N., Scholz, C., O'Donnell, M. B., & Falk, E. B. (2019). Cognitive regulation of ventromedial prefrontal activity evokes lasting change in the perceived self-relevance of persuasive messaging. Human Brain Mapping, 40(9), 2571-2580. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24545 [details]
- Doré, B. P., Scholz, C., Baek, E. C., Garcia, J. O., O'Donnell, M. B. O., Bassett, D. S., Vettel, J. M., & Falk, E. B. (2019). Brain activity tracks population information sharing by capturing consensus judgments of value. Cerebral Cortex, 29(7), 3102-3110. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhy176 [details]
- Scholz, C., Doré, B. P., Cooper, N., & Falk, E. B. (2019). Neural Valuation of Antidrinking Campaigns and Risky Peer Influence in Daily Life. Health Psychology, 38(7), 658-667. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000732 [details]
2018
- Falk, E. B., & Scholz, C. (2018). Persuasion, influence, and value: Perspectives from communication and social neuroscience. Annual Review of Psychology, 69, 329-356. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011821
- Kang, Y., Cooper, N., Pandey, P., Scholz, C., O'Donnell, M. B., Lieberman, M. D., Tailor, S. E., Strecher, V. J., Dal Cin, S., Konrath, S., Polk, T. A., Resnicow, K., An, L., & Falk, E. B. (2018). Effects of self-transcendence on neural responses to persuasive messages and health behavior change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(40), 9974-9979. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1805573115 [details]
2017
- Baek, E. C., Scholz, C., O'Donnell, M. B., & Falk, E. B. (2017). The value of sharing information: A neural account of information transmission. Psychological Science, 28, 851-861. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617695073
- Scholz, C., Baek, E. C., O'Donnell, M. B., Kim, H. S., Cappella, J. N., & Falk, E. B. (2017). A neural model of valuation and information virality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114, 2881-2886. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1615259114
2015
- Cascio, C. N., Scholz, C., & Falk, E. B. (2015). Social influence and the brain: Persuasion, susceptibility to influence and retransmission. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 3, 51-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.01.007
2013
- Bol, N., Scholz, C., Smets, E. M. A., Loos, E. F., de Haes, H. C. J. M., & van Weert, J. C. M. (2013). Senior patients online: which functions should a good patient website offer? In C. Stephanidis, & M. Antona (Eds.), Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. User and Context Diversity: 7th International Conference, UAHCI 2013, held as part of HCI International 2013, Las Vegas, NV, USA, July 21-26, 2013: proceedings (Vol. 2, pp. 32-41). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 8010). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39191-0_4 [details]
2024
- Jovanova, M., Stanoi, O., Scholz, C., Doré, B. P., Cosme, D., Kang, Y., Cooper, N., Boyd, Z. M., Bassett, D. S., Mucha, P. J., Lydon-Staley, D., Ochsner, K. N., & Falk, E. B. (2024). Brain responses and susceptibility to peer influence on drinking. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/kahyg
- Scholz, C., Chan, H. Y., Hendriks, H., & van Reijmersdal, E. A. (2024). The social life of health-promotion messages: Alcohol craving in complex information environments. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/bakpd
- van der Laan, N., Scholz, C., Peels, R., Gayet, S., Groenewold, R., van Eigen, H., Pollman, M., Smit, N., Krypotos, A., Goudbek, M., Stapel, R., Peeters, R., & de Klein, R. (2024). Tien jaar na de replicatiecrisis: de problematisch lage impact van replicatieonderzoek. Web publication or website, Science Guide. https://www.scienceguide.nl/2024/06/tien-jaar-na-de-replicatiecrisis-de-problematisch-lage-impact-van-replicatieonderzoek/ [details]
2023
- Cosme, D., Chan, H. Y., Sinclair, A. H., Benitez, C., Lydic, K., Martin, R. E., Resnick, A., Carreras-Tartak, J., Cooper, N., Paul, A. M., Koelle, D., McVay, J., Falk, E. B., & Scholz, C. (2023). Neural and behavioural evidence that message self and social relevance motivate content sharing. (v2 ed.) PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/z8946
2024
- Scholz, C. (2024). A neuroscience-based intervention to systematically increase (online) information sharing. In The Neuromarketing Yearbook (pp. 42-43). Neuromarketing Science and Business Association.
2024
- Dolinšek, S., Scholz, C., van Weert, J. C. M., van den Putte, S. J. H. M., & Meppelink, C. S. (2024). Coping with COVID-19 health messages on social media: Interviews with students with varying depressive symptoms. Abstract from 38th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, Cascais, Portugal.
- Dolinšek, S., Scholz, C., van Weert, J. C. M., van den Putte, S. J. H. M., & Meppelink, C. S. (2024). The role of mental well-being in health communication about COVID-19: An interview study among students with varying levels of depression. Abstract from Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2024, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
- Dolinšek, S., Scholz, C., van Weert, J. C. M., van den Putte, S. J. H. M., & Meppelink, C. S. (2024). The role of mental well-being in health communication about COVID-19: An interview study among students with varying levels of depressive symptoms: Poster presentation. Abstract from International Conference on Urban Mental Health 2024, Amsterdam.
- Dolinšek, S., Scholz, C., van Weert, J. C. M., van den Putte, S. J. H. M., & Meppelink, C. S. (2024). Unintended damage? COVID-19 health messages, their impact on mental well-being, and its implications for message effectiveness: An interview study with students with varying levels of depressive symptoms. Abstract from ECREA European Communication Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2023
- Dolinšek, S., Meppelink, C. S., Giani, S., van Weert, J. C. M., van den Putte, B., & Scholz, C. (2023). The role of mental well-being in the effects of health messages: A scoping review. Abstract from Etmaal Communicatiewetenschap 2023, Enschede, Netherlands.
- Dolinšek, S., Meppelink, C. S., Giani, S., van Weert, J. C. M., van den Putte, B., & Scholz, C. (2023). The role of mental well-being in the effects of persuasive health messages: A scoping review. Abstract from EHPS 2023: 37th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
- Dolinšek, S., Meppelink, C. S., Giani, S., van Weert, J. C. M., van den Putte, S. J. H. M., & Scholz, C. (2023). The role of mental well-being in the effects of health messages: A scoping review. Abstract from ACHC Fall Symposium 2023, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Dolinšek, S., Scholz, C., van Weert, J. C. M., van den Putte, B., & Meppelink, C. S. (2023). The role of mental well-being in health communication about COVID-19: An interview study among students with varying levels of depression. Abstract from ECHC 2023: European Conference on Health Communication, Klagenfurt, Austria.
- Mollen, S., & Scholz, C. (2023). Persuasive Communication Panel Session: Theory-driven communication applications: An interdisciplinary perspective. Abstract from Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap, Enschede, The Netherlands.
2019
- Hendriks, H., Scholz, C., Larsen, H., de Bruijn, G. J., & van den Putte, B. (2019). Intervening through conversations: How instructions influence conversational valence and binge drinking determinants. Abstract from Association for Researchers in Psychology and Health (ARPH) conference.
Prize / grant
- Scholz, C. (2022). Distinguished Article Award of the Communication and Social Cognition Division. https://academic.oup.com/joc/article-abstract/70/3/356/5855522
- Scholz, C. (2019). Rockstar Reviewer Award.
- Scholz, C. (2019). Social and Affective Neuroscience Society Top Poster Award.
- Scholz, C. (2019). NWO Veni Grant.
- Scholz, C. (2019). Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship.
- Scholz, C. (2019). Marie Curie Fellowship.
- Scholz, C. (2018). Social and Affective Neuroscience Society Top Poster Award.
- Scholz, C. (2018). International Communication Association Top Paper Award Information Systems Division.
- Scholz, C. (2018). ASPASIA sub-grant for increased research time.
- Scholz, C. (2017). Social and Affective Neuroscience Society Top Poster Award.
- Scholz, C. (2017). International Communication Association Top Paper Award Communication Science and Biology Interest Group.
2018
- Scholz, C. (2018). Neural and psychological bases of health news sharing. [Thesis, fully external, University of Pennsylvania].
2020
- Scholz, C., van der Laan, N., Poldrack, R. A., de Ridder, D. T. D. & Smidts, A. (2020). Can we have a second helping? A replication study on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying self-control. Openneuro. https://doi.org/10.18112/openneuro.ds002643.v1.1.0
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Ancillary activities
- No ancillary activities
Doell, K. C., & International Collaboration to Understand Climate Action (2024). The International Climate Psychology Collaboration: Climate change-related data collected from 63 countries. Scientific Data, 11, Article 1066.