TEAM MEMBERS

Associate Professor at UNED and co-author of various texts on social psychology, one of Elena’s main areas of interest focuses on the evolutionary origins of human social behavior and the interaction between biological bases and the influence of the social and cultural environment. The result of this interest was her doctoral thesis on dominance relations and social exchange in preschool children, from an ethological perspective, as well as several collaborations in monographs addressing the evolution of different psychosocial processes. Elena has worked in various lines of research focused on the "dark side" of social relationships, such as bullying or social stigma, and also on issues related to the development of social behavior, such as conflicts and solution strategies in children's groups or the development of identity fusion. Currently, Elena’s research activity is oriented towards the field of self-conscious emotions, both in children and adults, with special attention to envy and humiliation.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7321-3400

As a researcher, Rut works in the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at UNED. She is a Doctoral student in Health Psychology (UNED) and has a Master’s Degree in Social and Legal Sciences Research (University of Extremadura, UNEX): the prize for the best academic record was awarded by UNEX and special mention for the best academic record in the Psychology Section was granted by the UNEX Psychology Faculty. Rut graduated in psychology from UNED in 2018, received a collaboration grant in 2017–2018 from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports in the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at UNED and was awarded a Diploma in Performing Arts (Interpretation) in 1999 (Current TAI University Classroom, Rey Juan Carlos University).

Rut is currently working on her doctoral thesis: "Humiliation in gender relations: Key factors to empower victims". Her main work objectives are to study risk factors, protective factors and women’s perception of their situation when they are victims of humiliation. Her initial studies are contextualized in psychological violence within heterosexual couples and sexual harassment at work.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0187-6819

José is a PhD student in Psychology at UNED (2019 to date), a researcher with a pre-doctoral contract (FPU, 2020) in the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at UNED, a psychology graduate (UNED, 2019) and a telecommunications engineer (UPM, 1995).

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6951-3758

Cristian Catena Fernández holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the National University of Distance Education (UNED), where he graduated with highest honors (Summa Cum Laude) and received the International Doctorate Mention. He is currently a hired researcher at the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at UNED, where he also serves as a professor for the courses Group Psychology and Applied Social Psychology. He also teaches at Universidad Villanueva. He is a member of the Spanish Scientific Society of Social Psychology (SCEPS). His research focuses on the psychological and social processes underlying political polarization and intergroup dynamics. In particular, he examines the relationships between political ideology (left–right orientation), moral stereotypes, and threats to the moral self, exploring how these factors may contribute to social division. He also conducts research on morality and stigma, investigating how moral foundations shape social attitudes and perceptions of marginalized groups.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4472-5391

Irene is a researcher with a FPI predoctoral contract in the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at UNED since 2021. She has a degree in Psychology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2019) and a Master’s Degree in Cultural Studies from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2021). She’s currently developing her thesis on the emotional experience of social rejection, focusing on self-conscious emotions, the appraisals that may be behind them and how these emotions may act as predictors of the rejected person’s subsequent behavioral response.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0796-9140

Alejandro is a researcher with a FPI predoctoral contract in the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at the National University of Distance Education (UNED). His PhD thesis focuses on the study of bullying victimization from the theoretical prism of humiliation. One of the main objectives of his line of work is to identify the response patterns of victims based on their emotional experience, and especially in a context of school bullying. 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4699-3031