Dr Frank Mols
Senior Lecturer
School of Political Science and International Studies
+61 7 336 59024
Researcher biography
Frank’s research interests include Governance, Public Policy, Voter Attitudes, EU Attitude Formation, and Political Psychology. His research focuses on political psychology, and explores ways in Social Psychological theories (and Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory in particular) can be used to refine political science perspectives on leadership, EU attitudes, and voter attitudes more generally. His research has been published in leading international journals, such as the European Journal of Political Research, Political Psychology, West European Politics, Journal of Common Market Studies, Public Administration, Evidence and Policy, and the Australian Journal of Public Administration.
Research Interests
- Political Psychology
- Governance & Public Policy
- Populism
Research Impacts
Frank’s political psychology research is well cited in high-quality peer-reviewed journals.He receives regular requests from journalists to be interviewed on local and national radio, and invitations from policy-makers and fellow academics to write blogs about his research. For example, his blogs on 'Nudging' have appeared on Democratic Audit UK, and LSE's impact of social science research, and his research on the appeal of populist far-right parties in times of economic prosperity received attention in articles in the Australian edition of The Guardian
Book
Mols, Frank and Jetten, Jolanda (2017). The wealth paradox: economic prosperity and the hardening of attitudes. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781139942171
Book Chapters
Mols, Frank, Haslam, S. Alexander, Platow, Michael J., Reicher, Stephen D. and Steffens, Niklas K. (2023). The social identity approach to political leadership. The Oxford handbook of political psychology. (pp. 804-842) edited by Leonie Huddy, David O. Sears, Jack S. Levy and Jennifer Jerit. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197541302.013.21
Jetten, Jolanda and Mols, Frank (2021). Support for populist parties: economic deprivation, cultural backlash, or status anxiety?. The psychology of political polarization. (pp. 97-111) New York, NY., United States of America: Taylor and Francis. doi: 10.4324/9781003042433
Mols, Frank and 't Hart, Paul (2018). Political psychology. Theory and methods in political science. (pp. 142-157) edited by Vivien Lowndes, David Marsh and Gerry Stoker. Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mols, Frank (2009). Suriname. Political Parties of the World. (pp. 556-559) edited by D.J. Sagar. London, UK: John Harper Publishing.
Jetten, Jolanda and Mols, Frank (2009). Imaginative Leadership: How Leaders of Marginalized Groups Negotiate Intergroup Relations. Crossing the Divide: Intergroup Leadership in a World of Difference. (pp. 57-69) edited by Todd L. Pittinsky. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press.
Mols, Frank (2009). Netherlands. Political Parties of the World. (pp. 420-429) edited by D.J. Sagar. London: John Harper Publishing.
Mols, F. (2005). The Netherlands, Surinam, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. Political parties of the world. (pp. 432-441) edited by Bogdan Szajkowsk. London: John Harper Publishing.
Mols, F. (2005). The Netherlands, Surinam, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. Trade Unions of the World. (pp. xx-xx) edited by Szajkowski, B.. London: John Harper Publishing.
Mols, F. (2004). The Netherlands, Surinam, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. Revolutionary and dissident movements of the world. (pp. 352-356) edited by B. Szajkowski. London, UK: John Harper Publishing.
Journal Articles
Bingley, William J., Haslam, S. Alexander, Haslam, Catherine, Hornsey, Matthew J. and Mols, Frank (2023). Why a group-level analysis is essential for effective public policy: The case for a g-frame. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46 e148, 25-26. doi: 10.1017/s0140525x23000894
Hehnen, Melissa M., Fladerer, Martin P., Mols, Frank and Frey, Dieter (2023). Shaping EU attitudes through identity leadership: investigating pro‐EU and EU‐skeptic identity narratives. Political Psychology, 44 (3), 475-491. doi: 10.1111/pops.12857
Jetten, Jolanda, Zhao, Chongting, Álvarez, Belén, Kaempf, Sebastian and Mols, Frank (2023). Trying to unplug for 24 hours: conspiracy mentality predicts social isolation and negative emotions when refraining from internet use. advances.in/psychology, 1 (1). doi: 10.56296/aip00003
Jetten, Jolanda, Peters, Kim, Álvarez, Belén, Casara, Bruno Gabriel Salvador, Dare, Michael, Kirkland, Kelly, Sánchez-Rodríguez, Ángel, Selvanathan, Hema Preya, Sprong, Stefanie, Tanjitpiyanond, Porntida, Wang, Zhechen and Mols, Frank (2021). Consequences of economic inequality for the social and political vitality of society: a social identity analysis. Political Psychology, 42 (S1), 241-266. doi: 10.1111/pops.12800
Peters, Kim, Jetten, Jolanda, Tanjitpiyanond, Porntida, Wang, Zhechen, Mols, Frank and Verkuyten, Maykel (2021). The language of inequality: evidence economic inequality increases wealth category salience. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 48 (8), 1-16. doi: 10.1177/01461672211036627
Jetten, Jolanda, Fielding, Kelly S., Crimston, Charlie R., Mols, Frank and Haslam, S. Alexander (2021). Responding to climate change disaster: the case of the 2019/2020 bushfires in Australia. European Psychologist, 26 (3), 161-171. doi: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000432
Steffens, Niklas K., Wolyniec, Nathan, Okimoto, Tyler G., Mols, Frank, Haslam, S. Alexander and Kay, Adam A. (2021). Knowing me, knowing us: Personal and collective self-awareness enhances authentic leadership and leader endorsement. The Leadership Quarterly, 32 (6) 101498, 101498. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101498
Mols, Frank and Jetten, Jolanda (2020). Understanding support for populist radical right parties: toward a model that captures both demand-and supply-side factors. Frontiers in Communication, 5 557561. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2020.557561
Jetten, Jolanda, Mols, Frank and Steffens, Niklas K. (2020). Prosperous but fearful of falling: the wealth paradox, collective angst, and opposition to immigration. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47 (5), 014616722094411-780. doi: 10.1177/0146167220944112
Mols, Frank, Bell, Jennifer and Head, Brian (2020). Bridging the research–policy gap: the importance of effective identity leadership and shared commitment. Evidence and Policy, 16 (1) 10.1332/174426418X15378681300533, 145-163. doi: 10.1332/174426418X15378681300533
Jetten, Jolanda, Mols, Frank and Selvanathan, Hema Preya (2020). How economic inequality fuels the rise and persistence of the Yellow Vest movement. International Review of Social Psychology, 33 (1) 2, 1-12. doi: 10.5334/irsp.356
Sprong, Stefanie, Jetten, Jolanda, Wang, Zhechen, Peters, Kim, Mols, Frank, Verkuyten, Maykel, Bastian, Brock, Ariyanto, Amarina, Autin, Frédérique, Ayub, Nadia, Badea, Constantina, Besta, Tomasz, Butera, Fabrizio, Costa-Lopes, Rui, Cui, Lijuan, Fantini, Carole, Finchilescu, Gillian, Gaertner, Lowell, Gollwitzer, Mario, Gómez, Ángel, González, Roberto, Hong, Ying-Yi, Jensen, Dorthe Høj, Jasinskaja-Lahti, Inga, Karasawa, Minoru, Kessler, Thomas, Klein, Olivier, Lima, Marcus, Mégevand, Laura ... Wohl, Michael J. A. (2019). “Our country needs a strong leader right now”: Economic inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. Psychological Science, 30 (11), 095679761987547-1637. doi: 10.1177/0956797619875472
Jian, Hu and Mols, Frank (2019). Modernizing China's tertiary education sector: Enhanced autonomy or governance in the shadow of hierarchy?. China Quarterly, 239, 702-727. doi: 10.1017/S0305741019000079
Mols, Frank and Jetten, Jolanda (2018). Beyond the 'crisis and losers of globalisation' thesis: explaining the appeal of One Nation. Queensland Review, 25 (1), 27-38. doi: 10.1017/qre.2018.4
Steffens, N. K., Haslam, S. A., Jetten, J. and Mols, F. (2018). Our followers are lions, theirs are sheep: how social identity shapes theories about followership and social influence.. Political Psychology, 39 (1), 23-42. doi: 10.1111/pops.12387
Mols, Frank and Jetten, Jolanda (2017). One Nation's support: why "income" is a poor predictor. Australasian Parliamentary Review, 32 (1), 92-100.
Jetten, Jolanda, Wang, Zhechen, Steffens, Niklas K, Mols, Frank, Peters, Kim and Verkuyten, Maykel (2017). A social identity analysis of responses to economic inequality. Current Opinion in Psychology, 18, 1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.05.011
Jetten, Jolanda, Mols, Frank, Healy, Nikita and Spears, Russell (2017). “Fear of falling”: economic instability enhances collective angst among societies’ wealthy class. Journal of Social Issues, 73 (1), 61-79. doi: 10.1111/josi.12204
Jetten, Jolanda, Ryan, Rachel and Mols, Frank (2017). Stepping in the shoes of leaders of populist right-wing parties. Social Psychology, 48 (1), 40-46. doi: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000289
Steffens, Nick K., Mols, Frank, Haslam, S. Alexander and Okimoto, Tyler G. (2016). True to what We stand for: Championing collective interests as a path to authentic leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 27 (5), 726-744. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.04.004
Jetten, Jolanda, Mols, Frank and Postmes, Tom (2015). Relative Deprivation and Relative Wealth Enhances Anti-Immigrant Sentiments: The V-Curve Re-Examined. PLoS One, 10 (10) e0139156, e0139156.1-e0139156.24. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139156
Mols, Frank and Jetten, Jolanda (2015). Explaining the appeal of populist right-wing parties in times of economic prosperity. Political Psychology, 37 (2), 275-292. doi: 10.1111/pops.12258
Mols, Frank, Haslam, S. Alexander, Jetten, Jolanda and Steffens, Niklas K. (2015). Why a nudge is not enough: a social identity critique of governance by stealth. European Journal of Political Research, 54 (1), 81-98. doi: 10.1111/1475-6765.12073
Mols, Frank and Jetten, Jolanda (2014). No guts, no glory: how framing the collective past paves the way for anti-immigrant sentiments. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 43 (PA), 74-86. doi: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2014.08.014
Jetten, Jolanda and Mols, Frank (2014). 50:50 hindsight: appreciating anew the contributions of Milgram's obedience experiments. Journal of Social Issues, 70 (3), 587-602. doi: 10.1111/josi.12080
Mols, Frank and Weber, Martin (2013). Laying sound foundations for social identity theory-inspired European Union attitude research: beyond attachment and deeply rooted identities. Journal of Common Market Studies, 51 (3), 505-521. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5965.2012.02316.x
Mols, Frank (2012). What makes a frame persuasive? Lessons from social identity theory. Evidence & Policy, 8 (3), 329-345. doi: 10.1332/174426412X654059
Mols, Frank and Jetten, Jolanda (2011). Leadership and follwership. Psychologist, 24 (9), 678-678.
Bell, Stephen, Hindmoor, Andrew and Mols, Frank (2010). Persuasion as governance: A state-centric relational perspective. Public Administration, 88 (3), 851-870. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9299.2010.01838.x
Mols, Frank (2010). Harnessing market competition in PPP procurement: The importance of periodically taking a strategic view. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 69 (2), 229-244. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8500.2010.00681.x
Mols, Frank (2010). An introduction to Australian public policy: Theory and practice. Australian Journal of Political Science, 45 (3), 516-518. doi: 10.1080/10361146.2010.499604
Mols, Frank, Jetten, Jolanda and Haslam, S. Alexander (2009). EU identification and endorsement in context: The importance of regional identity salience. Journal of Common Market Studies, 47 (3), 601-623. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5965.2009.01817.x
Mols, Frank and Haslam, Alexander S. (2008). Understanding EU attitudes in multi-level governance contexts: A social identity perspective. West European Politics, 31 (3), 442-463. doi: 10.1080/01402380801939693