Profile

Anna Gajda is a psychologist. She researches the roots of political radicalization and extremism. In her approach, she combines social psychology, personality psychology and psychology of individual differences. She investigates intergroup conflicts and radical group behaviors, taking into consideration not only the social context, but also the influence of dark, antisocial personality traits, such as psychopathy and sadism.

As a doctoral student at the University of Gdańsk, she is a member of a researcher team working on a project “Individual differences and support for collective violence: The role of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness”, funded by the National Science Centre. She has gained some valuable research experience by managing a project concerned with the anti-vaccination movement. Recently, she has also been working on another project funded by the National Science Centre, devoted to the standardization of data management and naming variables in the world of research.

Anna is a member of a research group Protest Lab, which investigates intergroup and intragroup relations, in particular during protests, demonstrations, and large gatherings, such as music festivals. She is also part of the SAFER project, which researches aggression among soccer fans.

She was a beneficiary of the 2023 TopMinds mentoring program organized by the Top 500 Innovators Association and the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission.

At SWPS University, she teaches classes in social psychology, advanced statistical analysis and personal development.