Katarzyna Jasko is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Psychology at the Jagiellonian University. Katarzyna uses insights from motivational psychology to understand extreme vs. moderate political behaviors and social change. 

Representative for Research Excellence

Publications

1. Grzymala-Moszczynska, J., Coenen, A.-C., Gore-Gorszewska, G., Kunst, J. R., Kałwak, W., & Jasko, K. (2025). “The Whole Thing Is a Juggling Act”: Qualitative Exploration of Goal Systems Among Activists and Nonactivists. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 13(2), Article e15491. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.15491
2. Grzymala-Moszczynska, J., Maj, M., Szastok, M., Kruglanski, A., & Jasko, K. (2024). Motivational underpinnings of support for radical political leaders. European Journal of Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.3090
3. Webber, D., Molinario, E., Jasko, K., Gelfand, M. J., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2023). The Way They See Us: Examining the Content, Accuracy, and Bias of Metaperceptions Held by Syrian Refugees About the Communities That Host Them. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231190222
4. Jasko, K., LaFree, G., Piazza, J., Becker, M. (2022). A comparison of political violence by left-wing, right-wing, and Islamist extremists in the United States and the world. PNAS, 119 (30) e2122593119.
5. Potoczek, A., Bukowski, M., Jasko, K., Czepluch, F., Fritsche, I., Jugert, P., Kossowska, M. (2022). Acting collectively against air pollution: When does control threat mobilize environmental activism? Registered report. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
6. Miklikowska, M., Jasko, K., Kurdnac, A. (2022). The making of a radical: The role of peer harassment in youth political radicalism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Online first.
7. Potoczek, A., Bukowski, M., de Lemus, S., Jimenez Moya, G., López, Á. R., & Jasko, K. (2022). Walk this way: Ingroup norms determine voting intentions for those who lack sociopolitical control. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Online first.
8. Kruglanski, A., Molinario, E., Jasko, K., Webber, D., Leander, P., Pierro, A. (2022). Significance quest theory. Perspectives on Psychological Science. Online first.
9. Van Bavel, J. J., Cichocka, A., Capraro, V., Sjåstad, H., Nezlek, J. B., Pavlović, T., … Jasko, K.,… & Jørgensen, F. J. (2022). National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic. Nature Communications, 13(1), 1-14.
10. Molinario, E., Jasko, K., Webber, D., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2022). The social psychology of violent extremism. In: Kruglanski, A. W., Kopetz, C., & Szumowska, E. (Eds.), The Psychology of Extremism (pp. 259-279). Routledge. 
11. Robson, S. G., Baum, M. A., Beaudry, J. L., Beitner, J., Brohmer, H., Chin, J. M., … Jasko, K., … & Thomas, A. (2021). Promoting Open Science: A holistic approach to changing behaviour. Collabra: Psychology, 7(1), 30137
12. Jasko, K., Webber, D., Molinario, E., Kruglanski, A. W., & Touchton-Leonard, K. (2021). Ideological extremism among Syrian refugees is negatively related to intentions to migrate to the West. Psychological Science, 32(9), 1362-1374. 
13.  Stevens, S. M., Jago, C. P., Jasko, K., & Heyman, G. D. (2021). Trustworthiness and ideological similarity (but not ideology) promote empathy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(10), 1452-1465.
14. Jasko, K., Pyrkosz-Pacyna, J., Czarnek, G., Dukała, K., & Szastok, M. (2020).  The STEM graduate: Immediately after graduation, men and women already differ in job outcomes, attributions for success, and desired job characteristics.  Journal of Social Issues, 76, 512-542.
15. Kruglanski, A.W., Jasko, K., & Friston, K. (2020). All thinking is “wishful” thinking. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24, 413-424.
16. Webber, D., Kruglanski, A., Molinario, E., & Jasko, K. (2020). Ideologies that justify political violence. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 107-111. 
17. Jasko, K., Grzymala-Moszczynska, J., Maj, M., Szastok, M., & Kruglanski, A. (2020). Making Americans feel great again. Personal significance and reactions to the results of the 2016 US election. Political Psychology, 41, 717-736.
18. Jasko, K., Webber, D., & Kruglanski, A.W. (2020). Political extremism. In: van Lange, P., Higgins, T., Kruglanski, A.W., (Eds.) Social psychology. Handbook of basic principles.
19. Jasko, K., LaFree, G. (2020). Who is more violent in extremist groups? A comparison of leaders and followers. Aggressive Behavior, 46, 141-150.
20. Jasko, K., Webber, D., Kruglanski, A.W., Gelfand, M., Taufiqurrohman, M., Hettiarachchi, M., & Gunaratna, R. (2020). Social context moderates the effects of quest for significance on violent extremism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 118(6), 1165–1187.
21. Besta, T., Jasko, K. Grzymała-Moszczyńska, J., Górska, P. (2019). Walcz, protestuj, zmieniaj świat. Smak Słowa.
22. Jasko, K., Dukala, K., Szastok, M. (2019). Focusing on gender similarities increases female students’ motivation to participate in STEM. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 49, 473-487.
23. Jasko, K., Szastok, M., Grzymala-Moszczynska, J., Maj, M., Kruglanski, A. (2019). Rebel with a cause: Personal significance from political activism predicts willingness to self-sacrifice. Journal of Social Issues, 75, 314-349.
24. Kruglanski, A., Jasko, K., Milyavsky, M., Chernikova, M., Webber, D., Pierro, A., & di Santo, D. (2018). Cognitive consistency theory in social psychology: A paradigm reconsidered. Psychological Inquiry, 29(2), 45-59. 
25. Kruglanski, A. W., Jasko, K., Milyavsky, M., Chernikova, M., Webber, D., Pierro, A., & di Santo, D. (2018). All about cognitive consistency: A reply to commentaries. Psychological Inquiry, 29(2), 109-116.
26. Kossowska, M., Szumowska, E., Dragon, P., Jasko, K., Kruglanski, A. (2018). Disparate roads to certainty: Processing strategy choices under need for cognitive closure. European Review of Social Psychology, 29, 161-211.
27. Kruglanski, A. W., Factor, A., & Jasko, K. (2018). Is “behavior” the problem? Social Psychological Bulletin, 13, e26138.
28. Kruglanski, A.W., Jasko, K., Webber, D., Chernikova, M., & Molinario, E. (2018). The making of violent extremists. Review of General Psychology, 22(1), 107-120.
29. Jasko, K., Kruglanski, A., Hassan, A., & Gunaratna, R. (2018). ISIS: Its history, ideology, and psychology. In: Handbook of contemporary Islam and Muslim lives.
30. Kruglanski, A. W., Chernikova, M., & Jasko, K. (2018). The forward rush: On locomotors’ future focus. In: The psychology of thinking about the future.
31. Kruglanski, A. W., Chernikova, M., Jasko, K. (2017). Social psychology circa 2016: A field on steroids. European Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 1-10. 
32. Kruglanski, A.W., Jasko, K., Chernikova, M., Dugas, M., Webber, D. (2017). To the fringe and back: Violent extremism and the psychology of deviance. American Psychologist, 2(3), 217-230. 
33. Jasko, K., LaFree, G., Kruglanski, A. (2017). Quest for significance and violent extremism: The case of domestic radicalization. Political Psychology, 38, 815-831.
34. Kruglanski, A.W., Chernikova, M., Jasko, K., (2016). Aspects of motivation: Reflections on Roy Baumeister’s essay. Motivation and Emotion, 1. 
35. Kruglanski, A.W., Jasko, K., Chernikova, M., Milyavsky, M., Babush, M., Baldner, C., & Pierro, A. (2015). The rocky road from attitudes to behaviors: Charting the goal systemic course of actions. Psychological Review, 122(4), 598-620. 
36. Jasko, K., Czernatowicz-Kukuczka, A., Kossowska, M., & Czarna, A. (2015). Individual differences in response to uncertainty and decision making: The role of behavioral inhibition system and need for closure. Motivation and Emotion, 39, 541-552.
37. Jasko, K., & Szastok, M. (2015). Źródła nierównych wynagrodzeń kobiet i mężczyzn. Psychologia Społeczna, 10, 128-140. [Explaining the gender pay gap, Social Psychology].
38. Czernatowicz-Kukuczka, A., Jasko, K., & Kossowska, M. (2014). Need for closure and dealing with uncertainty in decision making context: The role of the behavioral inhibition system and working memory capacity. Personality and Individual Differences, 70, 126–130. 
39. Jasko, K., & Kossowska, M. (2013). The impact of superordinate identification on the justification of intergroup inequalities. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 255-262. 
40. Jasko, K., Kossowska, M., & Sekerdej, M. (2013). Psychological determinants of the threat of terrrorism and preferred approaches to counterterrorism: The case of Poland. In S.J. Sinclair, D. Antonius (red.), The political psychology of terrorism fears (p. 171-193). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
41. Kossowska, M., & Jasko, K. (2013). Interaction between need for cognitive closure and working memory capacity as a predictor of pre-decisional information searching and decision strategy. In: D. Cervone, M. W. Eysenck, M. Fajkowska, & T. Maruszewski (Eds.), Personality dynamics: Embodiment, meaning construction, and the social world, Vol. 3 (p. 107-121). Clinton Corners, NY: Eliot Werner.
42. Kossowska, M., Jasko, K., & Bar-Tal, Y. (2012). Need for closure and cognitive structuring among younger and older adults. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 43, 40-49. 
43. Kossowska, M., Jasko, K., Bar-Tal, Y., & Szastok, M. (2012). The relationship between need for closure and memory for schema-related information among younger and older adults, Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 19 (1-2), 283-300. 
44. Trejtowicz, M., & Jasko, K. (2010). Analiza przyczynowa poza metodą eksperymentalną. Psychologia Społeczna [Causal analysis beyond the experimental method. Social Psychology], 2-3, 260-272. 
45. Jasko, K., & Kossowska, M. (2008). Wpływ wartości na rozumienie pojęcia demokracji, Psychologia Społeczna. [Values’ influence on the understanding of the concept of democracy, Social Psychology], 3, 243-257.

Projects

1. 2020 – 2023 “How effective are political activists? Testing the social impact of extreme and moderate political actions.” funded by Polish National Science Centre, (PI: Katarzyna Jasko; 1 695 600 PLN / 400 000 USD)
2. 2020 – 2023 “From apathy to violent extremism: Motivational foundations of political engagement” funded by Polish National Science Centre (PI: Katarzyna Jasko; 1 156 087 EUR)
3. 2021 – 2022 “Social Context and Motivation Behind Political Engagement” funded by NAWA, Program im. Bekkera
4. 2018 – 2021 “The Psychology of Refugee Radicalization” funded by The Office of Naval Research (PI: Arie Kruglanski, role in the project: consultant)
5. 2020 – 2021 „Wpływ pandemii COVID-19 na chęć zaangażowania się na rzecz problemów społecznych.” funded by Polish National Science Centre, (PI: Katarzyna Jasko)
6. 2016 – 2021 “Theory of goal commitment” funded by Polish National Science Centre (OPUS) (PI: Katarzyna Jasko)
7. 2016 – 2020 “Psychological mechanisms of solidarity with disadvantaged groups” funded by Polish National Science Centre (PI: Katarzyna Jasko)
8. 2016 – 2019 “Motivational, Ideological and Social Processes in Political Violence” funded by The Office of Naval Research (PI: Arie Kruglanski)
9. 2016 – 2017 “The Psychology of Refugee Radicalization” funded by National Science Foundation (PI: Arie Kruglanski)
10. 2014 – 2015 “The influence of epistemic motivation and cognitive resources on the performance in decision tasks” funded by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (PI: Katarzyna Jasko)
11. 2012 – 2015 “The influence of social identity on beliefs about justice in intergroup relations” funded by National Science Centre (PI: Katarzyna Jasko)
12. 2011 – 2016 “Motivational and cognitive sources of knowledge formation process” funded by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (PI: prof. Malgorzata Kossowska)
13. 2010 – 2011 “Cognitive and motivational mechanisms compensating for cognitive deficits across the life-span” funded by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (PI: prof. Grzegorz Sedek)
14. 2009 – 2011 “Psychological underpinnings of democratic system justification” funded by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (PI: prof. Malgorzata Kossowska)