Alberti Center Early Career Award

This award recognizes Lydia Laninga-Wijnen, PhD, an individual who has made exemplary scholarly contributions to the field of bullying abuse prevention and conducted research that has the potential to influence practice and policy.

Dr. Lydia Laninga-Wijnen is a senior research fellow at the University of Turku, department of INVEST Psychology, Finland. Her research mission is to eliminate bullying worldwide and to foster resilience in victims of bullying and peer bystanders. Funded by the Dutch Scientific Institute and the Research Council of Finland, she established SOLID: a pioneering project that aims to identify Success factors that Optimize the Long-term Impact of Defending. SOLID puts to the test the widely held assumption of anti-bullying programs – that peer defending is helpful for victims – for which little empirical evidence is available. In addition, Lydia examines how contextual factors (e.g., norms) shape the psychological adjustment of victims and defenders. Moreover, Lydia is involved in the evaluation of (targeted) anti-bullying interventions and a strong advocate of open science in bullying research, aiming to enhance transparency, integrity, and ultimately, the societal impact of our field.