Vladimir Bojarskich, M.Sc.

• Online hate & animosity on social media
• Political ideology
• Social influence & group processes
• Moralization
• Climate change

I am generally interested in understanding the social, moral, and ideological motives and processes (e.g., moralization) that drive intergroup conflict (e.g., hate speech) and people’s (dis)engagment with contemporary political issues (e.g., climate change).

Currently, as part of my dissertation project, I investigate the link between people’s political ideology and their evaluation and perpetuation of online hate speech. Hate speech frequently targets politically salient and/or marginalized groups, rises in response to sociopolitical events, and is more prevalent in political compared to nonpolitical online discussions. Relatedly, political ideology serves to make sense of politically relevant events and influences how people think of social groups and their status. As such, understanding the association between people’s political ideology and their evaluation and perpetuation of online hate speech seems integral to understanding its causes and remedies.

Furthermore, I have a keen interest in phenomena typically studied by moral and environmental psychologists such as understanding why people moralize certain issues and how people think, feel, and act about climate change. 

Research activities

• Since 09/2024:
  Researcher at KomRex at FSU Jena (www.komrex.uni-jena.de/en)
• Since 03/2021:
  Ph.D. candidate in Psychology of Communication and Media Use, Institute for Communication Science, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany
• 03/2021 – 08/2024:
  Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher at NETHATE funded by the European Union (Grant No. 861047)
• 09/2019 – 08/2020:
  Statistics assistant, Methodology shop, University of Groningen, NL
• 11/2017 – 07/2018:
  Research assistant, Environmental Psychology, University of Groningen, NL
• 09/2015 – 06/2017:
  Research assistant, Department of Social Psychology, University of Groningen, NL

Research visits

• 02/2023 – 03/2023:
  Research visit, Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp, Belgium
• 10/2018 – 01/2019:
  Research traineeship, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia

Education

• 09/2017 – 02/2021:
  Research Master in Behavioural and Social Sciences – Social and Organizational Psychology, University of Groningen, NL
• 04/2015 – 08/2017:
  Bachelor’s Honours College Programme, University of Groningen, NL
• 09/2014 – 08/2017:
  B.Sc. Psychology, University of Groningen, NL

Teaching activities

• since 03/2021:
  Co-supervision of Bachelor and Master theses
• 03/2020 – 07/2020:
  Student mentor and instructor, Research Practicum, University of Groningen, NL
• 09/2016 – 06/2018:
  Student mentor and instructor, Introduction to Research Methods and Academic Skills, University of Groningen, NL

Articles & Book chapters:

Bojarskich, V., Yucel, M., Hahn, L., & Rothmund, T. (in press). Ideological (a-) symmetries in moral judgements of online hate. Political Psychology. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ed93n_v1External link

Agostini, P., Bojarskich, V., Köhler, L., & Voit, M. (in press). Rising Support for Political Violence Is Associated with Perceived Political Discrimination: Evidence from the 2024 German State Elections. Social Psychology.

Finn, C., Bojarskich, V., Grosche, C., Walther, E., & Rothmund, T. (in press). A Collaborative Omnibus Survey on the 2024 East German State Elections: Methods Report. Social Psychology.

Rathje, S., Asimovic, N., Ventura, T., …, Bojarskich, V., … & Van Bavel, J. J. (in principle acceptance). Testing the causal impact of social media reduction around the globe (Registered Report, Stage 1). Nature.

Weiske, J.F., Bojarskich, V., & Kauk, J. (2026). Im digitalen Hinterhof der AfD - Populistische Kommunikation der AfD auf Telegram im Bundestagswahljahr 2025. In ezra, MOBIT, KomRex, IDZ (Hrsg.), Thüringer Zustände. Rechtsextremismus und Gruppenbezogene Menschenfeindlichkeit im Freistaat Thüringen.

Ahrens, E., Bojarskich, V., & Rothmund, T. (2026). Towards a typology of online users in response to incivility: A latent profile analysis across six countries. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace.

Fischer, H., Bojarskich, V., Ziemer, C.-T., Louis, W., Huff, M., & Rothmund, T. (2026). Zone-flooding, public confusion, and Signal Detection Theory: A theoretical framework and registered report. Political Psychology.

Bojarskich, V.*, Grosche, C.*, Ziemer, C.-T.*, & Rothmund, T. (2025). Solidarity with Ukraine? How Fear- and Moral-Based Motivations Explain the Psychological Tug-of-War in the German Public. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.  *geteilte Erstautorenschaft

Finn, C., Grosche, C., Ziemer, C.-T., Bojarskich, V., Stolp, A. & Rothmund, T. (2025). Neues Kräfteverhältnis in Thüringen: Erkenntnisse einer Bevölkerungsbefragung zur Landtagswahl. In ezra, MOBIT, KomRex, IDZ (Hrsg.), Thüringer Zustände. Rechtsextremismus und Gruppenbezogene Menschenfeindlichkeit im Freistaat Thüringen.

Finn, C., Heinze, A.-S., Grosche, C., [...], Bojarskich, V., [...] Rothmund, T. (2024). Die Ergebnisse der Landtagswahlen 2024 in Ostdeutschland als Herausforderung für Politik und Demokratie. Erkenntnisse aus einer Bevölkerungsbefragung in Thüringen, Sachsen und Brandenburg. KomRex. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27080.94727

Rothmund, T., & Bojarskich, V. (2023). Verschwörungsglauben im politischen Denken und Handeln. In R. Imhoff (Ed.), Die Psychologie der Verschwörungstheorien (pp. 67–82). Hogrefe.

Johnson Zawadzki, S., Bouman, T., Steg, L., Bojarskich, V., & Druen, P. (2020). Translating climate beliefs into action in a changing political landscape. Climatic Change, 161, 21–42.

Presentations & Conference contributions:

Bojarskich, V., & Rothmund, T. (2024, September 16-19). Linker versus Rechter Online-Hass? Ein Blick auf ideologiebasierte Ursachen und Interventionsansätze [Paper presentation]. The 53rd Congress of the German Psychological Society, Vienna, Austria.

Bojarskich, V., Yucel, M., Hahn, L., & Rothmund, T. (2024, February 8-10). Ideological (A-) Symmetries in Moral Judgements of Toxic Online Speech [Poster presentation]. The Annual Convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, USA. 

Bojarskich, V. (2024, May 22). Online Hate and Political Ideology: Is Online Hate Rooted in the Political Right or Political Polarization? [Research presentation]. Lecture series "Political Communication" at the Institute of Communication Science, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. 

Bojarskich, V., Yucel, M., Hahn, L., & Rothmund, T. (2023, July 23-26). Ideological Symmetries and Asymmetries in Moral Judgements of Toxic Online Comments [Paper presentation]. The 19th biennial meeting of the International Society for Justice Research, Munich, Germany. 

Bojarskich, V., & Rothmund, T. (2023, July 9-11). A Scoping Review on the Study of Ideological Symmetries and Asymmetries in Online Toxic Communication [Poster presentation]. The 2023 Annual Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Montréal, Canada. 

Fischer, H., Bojarskich, V., Ziemer, C.-T., Louis, W., & Rothmund, T. (2023, June 30- July 4). To confuse rather than convince: A metacognitive perspective on the zone-flooding strategy of disinformation. In T. Rothmund, & C.-T. Ziemer (Chairs), Fake or Fact? Novel Measures of Disinformation Discernment [Symposium]. The 19^th General Meeting of the European Association of Social Psychology, Kraków, Poland.

Bojarskich, V., Grosche, C., Ziemer, C.-T., & Rothmund, T. (2023, March 9-10). Solidarity with Ukraine: How Psychological Factors Influence the Tug of War in the General Public in Germany [Paper presentation]. The 4th Scientific Meeting of German Political Psychology Network, Bielefeld, Germany. 

Bojarskich, V., & Rothmund, T. (2022, November 10-12). A Scoping Review on the Relationship between Political Ideology and Online Hatred [Paper presentation]. The 26th Workshop on Aggression, Jena, Germany. 

Bojarskich, V., & Rothmund, T. (2022, September 10-15). A Systematic Review on the Ideological Symmetries and Asymmetries in Online Hate Speech. In V. Bojarskich, L. Dellagiacoma, U. Schmid, & I. Weber (Chairs), Multi-Level Perspectives on Online Hate Speech: Digital, Ideological, and Perceptual Underpinnings of Toxic Online Communication [Symposium]. 52nd Congress of the German Psychological Society, Hildesheim, Germany.

Bojarskich, V., & Rothmund, T. (2022, June 9-10). A Systematic Review on the Ideological Symmetries and Asymmetries in Online Hatred [Paper presentation]. The Aarhus '22 Conference on Online Hostility and Bystanders, Aarhus, Denmark.

Bojarskich, V. (2019). Morality in Climate Change [Workshop]. The 53. biannual congress of the Initiative Psychologie zum Umweltschutz, Rieneck, Germany.

Johnson Zawadzki, S., Bouman, T., Steg, L., Bojarskich, V., & Druen, P. (2018). Translating climate beliefs into action in a changing political landscape [Paper presentation]. International Congress of Applied Psychology, Montréal, Canada.

Past & present reviewer activities for journals:

•  Group Processes & Intergroup Relations
•  Political Psychology
•  PLOS One
•  Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology
•  Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research

Past & Present memberships:

•  German Psychological Society (DGPs)
•  The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)
•  Network of Excellence for Training on Hate (NETHATE)