Johanna Vollhardt

Associate Professor, Psychology

Dr. Vollhardt received a Ph.D. in Social Psychology (with a concentration in the Psychology of Peace and Violence) from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and joined Clark University in Fall 2009. She is affiliated with CGRAS, CRES, HGS, and Peace and Conflict Studies.

Dr. Vollhardt’s research focuses on the psychological impact of collective victimization, focusing on questions such as: how do people make sense of oppression and violence against their group? How do different beliefs about collective victimization relate to intergroup attitudes and social and political views? What explains different resistance strategies in violent and repressive contexts? How is group-based power understood in the context of oppression? Dr. Vollhardt and her collaborators conduct this research using multiple methods (e.g., experiments, field experiments, surveys, content analysis, archival research, interviews, focus groups, Q-methodology studies) and working in different contexts with various ethnic, racial, religious, and national groups. She also co-edits the Journal of Social and Political Psychology.

Dr. Vollhardt currently teaches courses on research methods, the social psychology of intergroup relations, resistance, and collective violence and its aftermath. 

Degrees

  • Ph.D. in Social Psychology, University of Cologne, 2009
  • M.A. in Psychology, University of Cologne, 2004
  • B.A. in Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2001

Affiliated Department

Psychology

Scholarly and creative works

  • Article in Refereed Journal

    “When you live in a colony… every act counts”: Exploring engagement in and perceptions of diverse anti-colonial resistance strategies in Puerto Rico

    Published in The British Journal of Social Psychology
    2025
    Vol. 64
    Issue #2
    Carmen Marazzi, Johanna Ray Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Acknowledgment of collective victimization: Findings from four contexts of historical victimization

    Published in Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
    2025
    Vol. 25
    Issue #1
    Michelle Twali, Sherief Eldeeb, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Collective action under repressive conditions: Integration of individual, group, and structural level research, recommendations, and reflections. 

    Published in Social Issues and Policy Review
    2025
    Vol. 19
    Issue #1
    Arin Ayanian, Aya Adra, Fouad Bou Zeineddine, Reem Saab, Johanna Vollhardt, Nicole Tausch
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Between solidarity and betrayal: How differences in societal acknowledgment, group position, and expectations inform intergroup relations in the context of collective victimization.

    Published in International Journal of Social Psychology.
    2025
    Johanna Vollhardt, Helin Unal, Rashmi Nair
  • Chapters In Books

    The power of collective resilience against political violence and repression.
    Chapter: Beyond vulnerability: Collective victimization beliefs that are linked to collective resilience. 

    Published by Routledge
    2025
    Hu Young Jeong, Michelle Twali, Johanna Vollhardt, Yasemin Acar, Blerina Kellezi, Sandra Penic
  • Chapters In Books

    The power of collective resilience against political violence and repression.
    Chapter: Collective resistance and resilience. 

    Published by Routedge
    2025
    Carmen Marazzi, Aritra Mukherjee, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Power and Resistance: Black Americans’ Multifaceted Perceptions of Ingroup Strengths and Their Effects on Collective Efficacy and Resistance

    Published in British Journal of Social Psychology
    2025
    Hu Young Jeong, Michelle Twali, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Chapters In Books

    Oxford Handbook of Intergroup Conflict
    Chapter: Collective Victimization. 

    Published by Oxford University Press
    2025
    Johanna Vollhardt
  • Book

    Resistance to repression and violence: Global psychological perspectives

    2024
    Fouad Bou Zeineddine, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Chapters In Books

    In F. Bou Zeineddine & J. R. Vollhardt (Ed.), Resistance to violence and repression: Global psychological perspectives.
    Chapter: Jewish resistance during the Holocaust: Influences on the choice between individual and collective resistance strategies

    Published by Oxford University Press
    2024
    Johanna Vollhardt, Michal Bilewicz
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Disrupting racism and global exclusion in academic publishing: Recommendations and resources for authors, reviewers, and editors. 

    Published in Collabra: Psychology
    2024
    Vol. 10
    Issue #1
    Alison Ledgerwood, K. Lawson, Michael Kraus, Johanna Vollhardt, Jessica Remedios, D. Westberg, Ayse Uskul, A. Adetula, Colin Leach, G.E. Martinez, L.P. Naumann, Geetha Reddy, Charlie Tate, A. Todd, K. Weltzien, Nikole Buchanan, R. González, J. Montilla Doble, R. Romero-Canyas, Erin Westgate, Linda Zou
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Different power perceptions based on socially situated needs: Findings from a qualitative study among Asian Americans

    Published in The British Journal of Social Psychology
    2024
    Vol. 63
    Issue #4
    Hu Young Jeong, Johanna Ray Vollhardt, Michelle S Twali, John Tawa
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Never again: Lessons of genocide in survivor testimonies from the Holocaust, Nanjing Massacre, and Rwandan Genocide

    Published in European Journal of Social Psychology
    2024
    Vol. 54
    Issue #7
    Johanna Vollhardt, Trina Konushevci, Amer Macedonci, Hyomin Lee
  • Chapters In Books

    Resistance to repression and violence: Global psychological perspectives
    Chapter: The psychology of resistance in violent and repressive contexts: A conclusion and a beginning. 

    Published by Oxford University Press
    2024
    Johanna Vollhardt, Fouad Bou Zeineddine
  • Chapters In Books

    Resistance to repression and violence: Global psychological perspectives
    Chapter: Introduction: The psychology of resistance in violent and repressive contexts. 

    Published by Oxford University Press
    2024
    Johanna Vollhardt, Fouad Bou Zeineddine
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Why protest when it is not working? The complexities of efficacy in the current Palestine solidarity protests.

    Published in Social Psychological Review
    2024
    Vol. 26
    Issue #1
    Yasemin Acar, Ana Figueiredo, Maja Kutlaca, Mengyao Li, A. Mustafa, Thia Sagherian-Dickey, Sarah Vestergren, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    “You don’t compare horrors, you just don’t do that”: Examining assumptions and extending the scope of collective victim beliefs concerning intergroup relations

    Published in British Journal of Social Psychology
    2023
    Vol. 62
    Issue #1
    Johanna Vollhardt, Helin Unal, Rashmi Nair
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Lay theories about collective power in the context of racial oppression. 

    Published in European Journal of Social Psychology
    2023
    Michelle Sinayobye Twali, Nicole M. Overstreet, Johanna Ray Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    What predicts perceived discrimination among white Americans? Findings from two nationally representative studies

    Published in Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
    2023
    Mukadder Okuyan, Johanna Vollhardt, Andrew L Stewart
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    The role of group versus hierarchy motivations in dominant groups’ perceived discrimination

    Published in Group Processes & Intergroup Relations
    2022
    Vol. 25
    Issue #3
    Mukadder Okuyan, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    General Inclusive Victimhood Predicts Willingness to Engage in Intergroup Contact: Findings from Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Basque Country

    Published in Journal of Applied Social Psychology
    2022
    Vol. 52
    Issue #2
    Mirjana Rupar, Magdalena Bobowik, Maitane Arnoso, Ainara Arnoso, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Beyond Comparisons: The Complexity and Context- Dependency of Collective Victim Beliefs

    Published in European Journal of Social Psychology
    2021
    Vol. 51
    Issue #7
    Johanna Vollhardt, Zsolt Szabo, Andrew McNeill, Eliana Hadjiandreou, Mikolaj Winiewski
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    The role of comparative victim beliefs in predicting support for hostile versus prosocial intergroup outcomes

    Published in European Journal of Social Psychology
    2021
    Issue #Online first before inclusion in an issue
    Johanna Ray Vollhardt, J. Christopher Cohrs, Zsolt Péter Szabó, Mikołaj Winiewski, Michelle Twali, Eliana Hadjiandreou, Andrew McNeill
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Intersectionality and Relations between Oppressed Groups: Intergroup Implications of Beliefs about Intersectional Differences and Commonalities

    Published in Journal of Social Issues
    2020
    Vol. 76
    Issue #4
    Rashmi Nair, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Through the lens of history: The effects of beliefs about historical victimization on responses to refugees.

    Published in International Journal of Intercultural Relations
    2020
    Vol. 74
    Zsolt Szabó, Johanna Vollhardt, Noemi Mészáros
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Resistance to Collective Victimization and Oppression

    Published in Current Opinion in Psychology
    2020
    Vol. 35
    Johanna Vollhardt, Mukadder Okuyan, Helin Unal
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Different collective memories of Japanese colonization in Korea: Consequences for distinct preferences for strategies to deal with the past

    Published in Asian Journal of Social Psychology
    2020
    Issue #Online first publication before inclusion in issue.
    Hu Young Jeong, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Book

    The Social Psychology of Collective Victimhood

    2020
    ISBN # 9780190875190
    New York, NY
    USA
    Johanna Vollhardt
  • Chapters In Books

    The Social Psychology of Collective Victimhood
    Chapter: Introduction to “The social psychology of collective victimhood”: Examining context, power, and diversity in experiences of collective victimization.

    Published by Oxford University Press
    2020
    Johanna Vollhardt
  • Chapters In Books

    The Social Psychology of Collective Victimhood
    Chapter: Experiencing acknowledgment versus denial of the ingroup’s collective victimization.

    Published by Oxford University Press
    2020
    Michelle Twali, Boaz Hameiri, Johanna Vollhardt, Arie Nadler
  • Chapters In Books

    The Social Psychology of Collective Victimhood
    Chapter: “We all suffered!” – The role of power in rhetorical strategies of inclusive victimhood and its consequences for intergroup relations.

    Published by Oxford University Press
    2020
    Andrew McNeill, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Toward a Conceptual Integration of Collective Victimization Beliefs and their Variation Within and Across Contexts: A Q-Methodology Study in Five Communities

    Published in European Journal of Social Psychology
    Johanna Vollhardt, Helin Unal, Zsolt Szabo, Hu Young Jeong, J. Christopher Cohrs, Danielle Black
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Beliefs about Collective Victimization in Contexts of Ongoing and Historical Oppression: A Q Methodology Study among Kurds from Turkey and Northern Kurdistan in Germany

    Published in Political Psychology
    Helin Unal, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Different Beliefs about Collective Victimization Predict Support for Distinct Resistance Strategies: Survey Findings among the Kurdish Diaspora

    Published in Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology
    Helin Unal, Johanna Vollhardt
  • Chapters In Books

    Political Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies
    Chapter: Collective Victimhood:  Revisiting Kahana, Kahana, Harel and Segal’s Study on the Victim as Helper.

    Published by Sage
    Johanna Vollhardt