PhD Colloquium: Asking for a Connection

Semester

Semester 2, 2025-2026

Type of course

Methodological and Practical Courses

Date

June 5, 2026

Location

Utrecht University

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Duration

1 day

Maximum number of participants

35

ECTS

0.5 EC will be appointed for participation in the complete course

Staff

Speakers: Shih Hong (Jerry) Liao (RUG), Yishu Zhong (VU), Y. (Roxy) Zhang (UU); Organizers: Andrew Setiono (RUG), Jing Wang (RUG)

PhD Colloquium: Asking for a Connection: From Social Identity and Group Differences to Connection, Friendship, and Social Cohesion

We live in an increasingly diverse society (Poushter & Fetterolf, 2019). In such a society, people navigate multiple social identities and group memberships that shape how they relate to others.

Differences in age, gender, ethnicity, and other identity markers can create both social boundaries and opportunities for connection. At the same time, recent societal developments, like rapid technological progress (including AI), changing generational norms, and escalating global tensions, may either foster or hinder meaningful connections. As such, the answer to the question of how to connect is not straightforward.

To foster connection across differences, we must understand how to manage boundaries in ways that allow for small yet meaningful connections. This requires examining how identities shape social perceptions, the processes that lead to cross-group relations, and how technology affects these processes. Practically, it also involves exploring activities and interventions that can facilitate connections within our immediate social contexts, whether at work, in organizations, or in our personal lives.

This colloquium aims to broaden our understanding of how modern social relationships develop across differences and how recent societal development could transform how relationships develop into more closeness, friendship, and social cohesion. Whether your project focuses on relationship building at work, organizational, or community context we encourage you to submit an abstract and contribute to the discussion.

Topics that could potentially be discussed:

How do social labels and identities shape the way people perceive themselves and interact with members of other groups?

Which factors help transform cross-group relationships into positive, meaningful relationships, and even friendship?

How do contextual factors—such as workplaces, educational settings, public spaces, or broader societal environments—hinder or promote positive intergroup relationships?

How do recent societal developments transform intergroup relationships?

Under what conditions do intergroup differences create distance, misunderstanding, or division, and under what conditions can they instead foster connection and mutual understanding?

How do positive cross-group interactions extend beyond the individual level to influence teams, organizations, and society as a whole?

 

Reference

Poushter, J., & Fetterolf, J. (2019, April 22). Views of diversity by country. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/04/22/how-people-around-the-world-view-diversity-in-their-countries/

Our speakers

Shih Hong (Jerry) Liao (RUG)

Jerry will introduce the concept of a democratic psychological social contract, that is the shared identity, values, and principles that regulate intergroup conflict in democratic societies. He will discuss how societies remain intact (or fragmented) amidst conflict and outline a study plan to test this in Taiwan and the Netherlands.

Yishu Zhong (VU)

Yishu will delve into leadership-claiming behaviors, i.e. how individuals assert their desire to lead. She will discuss two types of leadership-claiming behaviors (direct or indirect) through a high-/low-context communication lens and present a study on motivations behind these behaviors, as well as their cultural variations.

Y. (Roxy) Zhang (UU)

Roxy will discuss connection in the domain of human-AI interaction. As algorithms are becoming more widely adopted, how does trust form when we interact with algorithms. Grounded in a social dilemma setting and inspired by feedback-based learning in human interaction, she examines how trust in AI develops over repeated encounters, and where it departs from our trust in one another. 

Time and place

The colloquium will take place in person at Utrecht University on June 5th 2026 (2 pm - 6 pm, followed by drinks). There will be a brief introduction, followed by three presentations by KLI PhD candidates (20 minutes each, with 10 minutes for questions). At the end, we will have a moderated panel discussion with all presenters for around 30 minutes.

 

Time schedule 

14:00: Start

14:00 - 14:15:  Introduction

14:15 - 14:45: Talk 1 (20 min talk, 10 min questions)

14:45 - 15:15: Talk 2 (20 min talk, 10 min questions)

15:15 - 15:30: Coffee break

15:30 - 16:00: Talk 3 (20 min talk, 10 min questions)

16:00 - 17:00: Panel discussion + closing

17:00 - 18:00: Drinks

 

Learning goals

This event will give KLI members the opportunity to share and discuss research on cross-group social relationships in increasingly diverse contexts. It will help participants develop experience in giving keynote-style talks, receive feedback from colleagues, and reflect on how social identities, labels, and contextual conditions can either hinder or promote positive intergroup relationships, friendship, and cohesion at the work, organizational, or community context. Speakers will be awarded 1 EC for their participation.

 

Preparation 

No preparation for participants is needed.