Publications

Selected Publications

***Goldwert, D., (...), ., & Vlasceanu, M. (2026, January 27). A megastudy of behavioral interventions to catalyze public, political, and financial climate advocacy. PNAS Nexus. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf400
***Goldwert, D., & Vlasceanu, M. (2025). An Individual-Collective-Systemic Behavioral Climate Intervention Framework. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101569
***Goldwert, D., Patel, Y., Goldberg, M., Nielsen, K., & Vlasceanu, M. (2025). Climate Action Literacy Interventions Increase Commitments to More Effective Mitigation Behaviors. PNAS Nexus. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf191
Vlasceanu, M., Doell, K., Bak-Coleman, J., Van Bavel, J., & et al., . (2024). Addressing Climate Change with Behavioral Science: A Global Intervention Tournament in 63 Countries. Science Advances. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj5778
***Berkebile-Weinberg, M., Tang, R., Gao, R., & Vlasceanu, M. (2024). Internet image search outputs propagate climate change sentiment and impact policy support. Nature Climate Change. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-02178-w
***Berkebile-Weinberg, M., Goldwert, D., Doell, K., Van Bavel, J., & Vlasceanu, M. (2024). The Differential Impact of Climate Interventions along the Political Divide in 60 Countries. Nature Communications. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48112-8

Preprints

***Mason, K., Okst, K., Green, D., Willer, R., Druckman, J., (...), ., Constantino, S., & Vlasceanu, M. A Megastudy of Behavioral Interventions to Increase Voter Registration Ahead of the 2024 US Presidential Election. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/p6b2e
Fazio, L., (...), ., Vlasceanu, M., & et. al., . A megastudy of nine interventions designed to reduce the sharing of and belief in false and misleading headlines. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/uyjha_v1
***Kay, C., & Vlasceanu, M. A scale for detecting LLM-generated responses in online survey research. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/4p7ns_v5
Minson, J., (...), ., Vlasceanu, M., & et al., . Countering Authoritarian Censorship via Grassroots Communication Campaigns: Evidence from an Experimental Mega-Study in Wartime Russia. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8633606/v1
Seckin, O., Aiyappa, R., Vlasceanu, M., Menczer, F., Flammini, A., & Ahn, Y. Emergence of Stereotypes and Affective Polarization from Belief Network Dynamics. https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.10251
***Sabherwal, A., Goldwert, D., Constantino, S., Pearson, A., & Vlasceanu, M. Emotional Complexity Drives Collective Climate Action. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/24jpe_v2
Chalrsworth, T., Werden, L., van den Hoogen, J., Vlasceanu, M., & Crowther, T. Language Reveals Global Links Between Nature Attitudes and Sustainable Development. https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/documents/working-papers/2025/wp-25-30.pdf
***Goldwert, D., Bao, Y., Doell, K., Van Bavel, J., & Vlasceanu, M. The Effects of Climate Action Interventions along Cultural Individualism-Collectivism. in review. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/cv3n4
Stanley, S., Kirkland, K., Karl, J., Ghasemi, O., Ross, R., Klas, A., Contu, D., Constantino, S., Doell, K., & Vlasceanu, M. Validating the Climate Policy Support Scale in 63 countries and examining responses across political divides. https://osf.io/bf3td
Doell, K., Lengersdorff, L., Rhoads, S., Todorova, B., Nitschke, J., Druckman, J., Vlasceanu, M., Lamm, C., & Van Bavel, J. When Predicting Climate-Relevant Intervention Effectiveness, Academics Outperform the Public, but Not a Simple Heuristic. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/gx7au_v1

2026

***Goldwert, D., (...), ., & Vlasceanu, M. (2026, January 27). A megastudy of behavioral interventions to catalyze public, political, and financial climate advocacy. PNAS Nexus. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf400
Acierno, J., Tedaldi, E., Ginn, J., Goldwert, D., Vlasceanu, M. ., Geiger, S., Sparkman, G., & Constantino, S. Conformity to social norm interventions is not amplified in tighter nations. Nature Communications Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-026-00429-4
***Patel, Y., Goldwert, D., Constantino, S., & Vlasceanu, M. Features of Successful Behavioral Interventions: A Data Driven Analysis of Megastudy Effects. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbeha.2026.100210

2025

***Goldwert, D., & Vlasceanu, M. (2025). The Role of Information Source in Climate Beliefs, Behavioral Commitments, and Policy Preferences. Journal of Environmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102896
***Goldwert, D., & Vlasceanu, M. (2025). An Individual-Collective-Systemic Behavioral Climate Intervention Framework. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101569
***Goldwert, D., Patel, Y., Goldberg, M., Nielsen, K., & Vlasceanu, M. (2025). Climate Action Literacy Interventions Increase Commitments to More Effective Mitigation Behaviors. PNAS Nexus. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf191
Cologna, V., Meiler, S., (...), ., Vlasceanu, M., & et. al., . (2025). Extreme weather event attribution predicts climate policy support across the world. Nature Climate Change. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02372-4
Todorova, B., Steyrl, D., Hornsey, M., Pearson, S., Brick, C., Lange, F., Vlasceanu, M., van Bavel, J., Lamm, C., & Doell, K. (2025). Machine learning identifies key individual and nation-level factors predicting climate-relevant beliefs and behaviors. npj Climate Action. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-025-00251-4
Mede, N., Cologna, V., Berger, S., (...), ., Vlasceanu, M., & et. al., . (2025). Perceptions of Science, Science Communication, and Climate Change Attitudes in 68 Countries: The TISP Dataset. Nature Scientific Data. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-024-04100-7
Mede, N., Cologna, V., (...), ., Vlasceanu, M. ., & et al., . (2025). Public communication about science in 68 countries: Global evidence on how people encounter information about science and engage with it. Science Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470251376615
Cologna, V., Mede, N., Berger, S., (...), ., Vlasceanu, M., & et. al., . (2025). Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries. Nature Human Behavior. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02090-5

2024

Vlasceanu, M., Doell, K., Bak-Coleman, J., Van Bavel, J., & et al., . (2024). Addressing Climate Change with Behavioral Science: A Global Intervention Tournament in 63 Countries. Science Advances. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj5778
***Goldwert, D., & Vlasceanu, M. (2024). Changes in Political Beliefs. The Routledge International Handbook of Changes in Human Perceptions and Behaviors.
***Mason, K., Vlasceanu, M., & Jost, J. (2024). Effects of System-Sanctioned Framing on Climate Awareness and Environmental Action in the U.S. and Beyond. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2405973121
***Berkebile-Weinberg, M., Tang, R., Gao, R., & Vlasceanu, M. (2024). Internet image search outputs propagate climate change sentiment and impact policy support. Nature Climate Change. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-02178-w
***Berkebile-Weinberg, M., Goldwert, D., Doell, K., Van Bavel, J., & Vlasceanu, M. (2024). The Differential Impact of Climate Interventions along the Political Divide in 60 Countries. Nature Communications. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48112-8
Doell, K., Todorova, B., Vlasceanu, M., & et al., . (2024). The International Climate Psychology Collaboration: Climate change-related data collected from 63 countries. Nature Scientific Data. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-024-03865-1
Van Bavel, J., Rathje, S., Vlasceanu, M., & Pretus, C. (2024). Updating the Identity-based Model of Belief: From False Belief to the Spread of Misinformation. Current Opinion in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101787
***Goldwert, D., Doell, K., Van Bavel, J., & Vlasceanu, M. Climate change terminology does not influence willingness to take climate action. Journal of Environmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102482
van Stekelenburg, A., Bleize, D., van Riet, J., Schaap, G., Vlasceanu, M., & Doell, C. Communicating consensus among climate scientists increases estimates of consensus and belief in human-caused climate change across the globe. Journal of Environmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102480

2023

Vlasceanu, M., Dyckovsky, A., & Coman, A. (2023). A Network Approach to Investigate the Dynamics of Individual and Collective Beliefs: Advances and Applications of the BENDING Model. Perspectives on Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231185776
Koppel, L., Robertson, C., Doell, K., Javeed, A., Rasmussen, J., Rathje, S., Vlasceanu, M., & Van Bevel, J. (2023). Individual-level solutions may support system-level change–if they are internalized as part of one’s social identity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, e165. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X2300105X
Uddenberg, S., Thompson, B., Vlasceanu, M., Griffiths, T., & Todorov, A. (2023). Iterated learning reveals stereotypes of facial trustworthiness that propagate in the absence of evidence. Cognition, 237(105452). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105452
Vlasceanu, M., McMahon, C., Van Bavel, J., & Coman, A. (2023). Political and non-political belief change elicits behavioral change. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000455
Azevedo, F., (...), ., Vlasceanu, M., & et al., . (2023). Social and moral psychology of COVID-19 across 69 countries. Scientific Data. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-023-02080-8
Van Bavel, J., Pretus, C., Rathje, S., Parnamets, P., Vlasceanu, M., & Knowles, E. (2023). The costs of polarizing a pandemic: Antecedents, Consequences, and Lessons. Perspectives on Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231190395

2022

Vlasceanu, M., Reinero, D., & Van Bavel, J. (2022). Adversarial Collaborations in Behavioral Science: Benefits and Boundary Conditions. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 11(1), 23-26. https://doi.org/10.1037/mac0000002
Vlasceanu, M., & Coman, A. (2022). Information sources differentially trigger Coronavirus-related belief change. International Journal of Data Science and Analytics, 13, 287-298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41060-021-00307-8
Van Bavel, J., (...), ., Vlasceanu, M., (...), ., & Boggio, P. (2022). National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic. Nature Communications, 13(517). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27668-9
Vlasceanu, M., Dudik, M., & Momennejad, I. (2022). Network structure, gender diversity, and interdisciplinarity predict the centrality of artificial intelligence organizations. ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT) . https://doi.org/10.1145/3531146.3533069
Tomislav, P., (...), ., Vlasceanu, M., & et al., . (2022). Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning. PNAS Nexus, 1(3), 93. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac093
Vlasceanu, M., & Amodio, D. (2022). Propagation of gender inequality by internet search algorithms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(29). https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2204529119
Vlasceanu, M., & Coman, A. (2022). The effects of dyadic conversations on Coronavirus-related belief change. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3972

2021

Vl, M. (2021). Cognitive Processes Shaping Individual and Collective Belief Systems. ProQuest, Doctoral Dissertation. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/cognitive-processes-shaping-individual-collective/docview/2539487703/se-2?accountid=14026
Vlasceanu, M., Morais, M., & Coman, A. (2021). Network structure impacts the synchronization of collective beliefs. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 21(5), 431-448. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685373-12340120
Vlasceanu, M., Morais, M., & Coman, A. (2021). The effect of prediction error on belief update across the political spectrum. Psychological Science, 32(6), 916-933. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797621995208
Vlasceanu, M., & Coman, A. (2021). The impact of social norms on health-related belief update. Applied Psychology: Health and Wellbeing, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12313

2020

Vlasceanu*, M., Tachihara*, K., Goldberg, A., & Coman, A. (2020). Lexical associations in a native and non-native language affect retrieval induced forgetting. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. https://cognitivesciencesociety.org/cogsci20/papers/0229/0229.pdf
Vlasceanu, M., Goebel, J., & Coman, A. (2020). The emotion-induced belief amplification effect. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. https://cognitivesciencesociety.org/cogsci20/papers/0076/0076.pdf
Vlasceanu, M., Morais, M., Duker, A., & Coman, A. (2020). The synchronization of collective beliefs: From dyadic interactions to network convergence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 26(3), 453-464. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000265

2019

Vlasceanu, M., & Morais, M. (2019). A possible neural mechanism of intentional forgetting. Journal of Neuroscience - Journal Club, 39(39), 7642-7644. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0908-19.2019

2018

Vlasceanu, M., Enz, K., & Coman, A. (2018). Cognition in a social context: A social-interactionist approach to emergent phenomena. Current Directions in Psychological Sciences , 27(5), 369-377. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418769898
Vlasceanu, M., & Coman, A. (2018). Mnemonic accessibility affects statement believability: the effect of listening to others selectively practicing beliefs. Cognition, 180, 238-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2018.07.015
Vlasceanu, M., Drach, R., & Coman, A. (2018). Suppressing my memories by listening to yours: the effect of socially-triggered context-based prediction error on memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-018-1481-2
"*** Denotes publications led by students in the Climate Cognition Lab."