Dr Joost Leunissen is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Co-Programme Leader for BSc Psychology.

He holds a BA in Psychology, an MPhil in Social and Organisational Psychology (cum Laude), and a BA and MA in Public Administration, all from Leiden University, The Netherlands. He obtained his PhD in 2014 at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

He has held previous posts at the Centre for Research on Self and Identity at the University of Southampton, and Nottingham Trent University, before moving to Winchester in 2019.

Main teaching Responsibilities:

PS1813: Introduction to Psychological Research Methods (Module leader semester 2)

PS2818: Social Psychology (Module leader)

PS3837: Statistical Programming in R

• Organisational nostalgia
• Narcissism
• Reconciliation, apologising, forgiveness

I am interested in nostalgia with a specific focus on organizational nostalgia: nostalgic feelings that some people have about the place they work or used to work. I have set up a research programme on organisational nostalgia. I have developed, with my co-authors, experimental manipulations to induce organizational nostalgia, and a self-report scale to measure organizational nostalgia. My research shows that organizational nostalgia is a motivational force and psychological resource for employees. For example, people who feel more nostalgic about the place they work find their work more meaningful and are more willing to voluntarily engage in behaviours that benefit the organisation. My current work focusses, generally, on the antecedents and consequences of organisational nostalgia.

Supervision of research students

Dr Joost Leunissen welcomes enquiries about research supervision; his areas of supervision are: emotions, organizational nostalgia, organisational behaviour, organisational justice, narcissism, reconciliation, apologising, forgiveness.

Jones R, Leunissen JM, Whyte A, Werson A, Bhattacharya J. (2025) Obsessive-compulsive symptoms predict increased fronto-parahippocampal synchronisation during thought suppression. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. doi: 10.3758/s13415-025-01316-x.

Cahill, L., Leunissen, J. M., Marriott, M. & Dunn, A. K. (2023). Quality of Life and Body Dissatisfaction in Cisgender Men Reporting Sexual Attraction Toward Men or Women. Europe's Journal of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/xybp2

Leunissen, J.M., van Dijke, M., Wildschut, T. & Sedikides, C. (2023). Organisational Nostalgia: The Construct, The Scale, and Its Implications for Organisational Functioning. British Journal of Management. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12740   

Leunissen, J. M. (2022). Diamonds and Rust: The Affective Ambivalence of Nostalgia. Current Opinion in Psychology, 49, 101541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101541

Van Dijke, M., & Leunissen, J. M. (2022). Nostalgia in organizations. Current Opinion in Psychology, 49, 101540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101540

Ventsislavova, P., Rosenbloom, T., Leunissen, J., Spivak, Y., & Crundall, D. (2022). An online hazard prediction test demonstrates differences in the ability to identify hazardous situations between different driving groups. Ergonomics, 65(8), 1119-1137. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2021.2016999

Sedikides, C., Leunissen, J. M., & Wildschut, T. (2021). The Psychological Benefits of Music-Evoked Nostalgia. Psychology of Music. Accepted Manuscript. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356211064641

Leunissen, J., Schumann, K., & Sedikides, C. (2021). Self-protection predicts lower willingness to apologize. The Journal of Social Psychology, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2021.1948812

Leunissen, J. M., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., & Routledge, C. (2021). The hedonic character of nostalgia: An integrative data analysis. Emotion Review, 13(2), 139-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073920950455

Van Dijke, M., Leunissen, J. M., Wildschut, T., & Sedikides, C. (2019). Nostalgia promotes intrinsic motivation and effort in the presence of low interactional justice. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 150, 46-61.

Leunissen, J. M., Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., & Cohen, T. R. (2018). Organizational Nostalgia and Work Meaningfulness: Implications for Turnover Intentions and Burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23, 44-57.

Leunissen, J. M., Sedikides, C., & Wildschut, T. (2017). Why Narcissists Are Unwilling to Apologize: The Role of Empathy and Guilt. European Journal of Personality, 31, 385-403.

Zheng, X., Van Dijke, M., Leunissen, J. M., Giurge, L., & De Cremer, D. (2016). When saying sorry may not help: Transgressor power moderates the effect of an apology on forgiveness in the workplace. Human Relations, 69, 1387-1418
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Rusch, H., Leunissen, J. M., & Van Vugt, M. (2015). Historical and experimental evidence of sexual selection for war heroism. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36, 367-373.

Van Dijke, M., Wildschut, T., Leunissen, J. M., & Sedikides, C. (2015). Nostalgia buffers the negative impact of procedural injustice on organizational cooperation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 127, 15-29. (IF = 2.45)

Leunissen, J. M., De Cremer, D., Van Dijke, M., & Reinders Folmer, C. (2014). Forecasting errors in the experienced averseness of an apology. Social Justice Research, 27, 322-339.

Desmet, P. & Leunissen, J. M. (2014). How many pennies for your pain? Willingness to compensate as a function of expected future interaction and intentionality feedback. Journal of Economic Psychology, 43, 105-113.

Leunissen, J. M. & De Cremer, D., & Reinders Folmer, C., & Van Dijke, M. (2013). The apology mismatch: Differential apologetic needs for victims and perpetrators after intentional and unintentional transgressions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 315-324.

Leunissen, J. M., De Cremer, D., & Reinders Folmers, C (2012). An instrumental perspective on apologizing in bargaining: The importance of forgiveness to apologize. Journal of Economic Psychology, 33, 215-222.