PhD position in Communication Science: Explaining Susceptibility to Health Hacks

1000scholars; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 36,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday leave entitlement

8% holiday allowance

8.3% end-of-year bonus

Commuting expenses contribution

Personalized benefits package

Job summary

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam invites applications for a full-time PhD position in TrackB of the Hooked by the Health Hack project. The successful candidate will conduct survey and experimental research on how young adults encounter health hacks, using dual-process theories of reasoning and quantitative methods.

You will join a cross-institutional team with Erasmus University Rotterdam, contribute to a joint mixed-methods synthesis, publish your findings, and engage with practice partners to

Qualifications

• Strong quantitative research skills including survey & experimental design.
• Experience with multilevel modelling / mediation or moderation analysis is a plus.
• Excellent English academic writing and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Track B — Survey and experimental research work on health hacks exposure.
• Design and field large-scale panel surveys and conduct online/lab experiments.
• Publish research, present at conferences, and contribute to knowledge exchange with practice partners.
• Collaborate with Track A and translate findings into interventions.

Skills

Quantitative research

Survey design

Experimental design

R (statistical analysis)

Dual-process theories familiarity

Academic writing in English

Education

Master's degree in Communication Science or Psychology

Tools

R

Job description

Job description

Social media are full of \"health hacks\": short, practical tips promising quick improvements in health, wellbeing, or appearance. While many are harmless, others are misleading or even hazardous, ranging from extreme detox regimens and homemade sunscreen recipes to unproven remedies promoted as alternatives to medical treatment.

This PhD position is part of Hooked by the Health Hack, a four-year research project funded by NWO (Open Competition SSH) and carried out by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam. The project examines how young adults encounter and evaluate health hacks, and why some hacks are so persuasive, focusing on the interplay between individual characteristics, features of the online context, and cognitive processing during exposure.

The project focuses on young adults aged 18–25. In this life stage of growing independence and identity exploration, health beliefs, routines, and self-perceptions are actively taking shape. This makes young adults a particularly relevant group for understanding both the appeal and the consequences of online health hacks.

The project will generate knowledge to inform user-centred strategies that strengthen resilience to misleading and harmful health advice online. These strategies aim to support critical evaluation while respecting people's autonomy in making their own health decisions.

The project brings together communication science, health psychology, and behavioural and cognitive science in an integrated mixed-methods design. Two closely aligned PhD tracks follow a shared three-stage research route: (1) identifying key individual and contextual factors, (2) examining the cognitive processes through which these factors shape evaluations during exposure, and (3) translating these insights into intervention strategies.

Track A uses participatory research methods; TrackB uses survey and experimental research. The two PhD candidates work closely together to develop a shared conceptual model and co-create interventions. This vacancy concerns TrackB, based at the Communication Science department of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Your duties

Track B — Survey and experimental research

Your work draws on dual-process theories of reasoning, distinguishing fast, intuitive processing from slower, reflective evaluation.

Your work will include:

• Conducting a multimodal content analysis of hazardous online health hacks.


• Designing and fielding a large-scale panel survey on individual and contextual susceptibility factors.


• Conducting controlled online and/or laboratory experiments on intuitive and reflective processing during exposure to health hacks.


• Experimentally evaluating intervention strategies co-developed with TrackA.


• Integrating quantitative findings with TrackA's participatory research in a joint mixed-methods synthesis.

Publishing research, presenting at conferences, and contributing to knowledge exchange with practice partners.

Requirements

• A completed (research) Master's degree in Communication Science, (Media, Social, or Cognitive) Psychology, or a related social science discipline, obtained by the start of the position.


• Strong quantitative research skills, including survey design and experimental design.


• Proficiency in statistical analysis (e.g., in R) and, preferably, experience with advanced techniques such as multilevel modelling, mediation/moderation analysis, or structural equation modelling.


• Affinity with, or willingness to quickly develop expertise in, dual-process theories of reasoning and cognitive processing paradigms.


• Genuine interest in health communication, misinformation, and the psychology of persuasion.


• Excellent academic writing and communication skills in English.


• A collaborative mindset and willingness to work closely with a parallel PhD track with a different methodological orientation, and to contribute to genuinely interdisciplinary integration.


• The ability to work independently and take ownership of a substantial part of a multi-year, multi-stage research project.

Conditions of employment

Fixed-term contract : 1 year.

A full-time PhD position for a total of four years (initial contract of one year, extended after a positive assessment), embedded in the Department of Communication Science at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and its graduate school. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.

A salary of €3.204,00 (PhD) and maximum €4.051,00 (PhD) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment.

Close supervision, embedded in a well-resourced, interdisciplinary team.

A genuinely collaborative research environment, with a sister PhD position (TrackA) at Erasmus University Rotterdam and links to national networks in media literacy and digital wellbeing.

Benefits

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.


• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus


• contribution to commuting expenses


• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package


• a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge

Employer

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

A better understanding of ourselves and social communities, values and meaning, through social sciences and humanities. That is the aim of The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. No single discipline can do this alone. The SSH disciplines are characterised by an open way of thinking and the natural urge to seek coherence and connection.

The faculty consists of nine academic departments within three schools: School of Religion & Theology (SRT), School of Social Sciences (SSc) and School of Humanities (SH).

Are you interested in joining Social Sciences and Humanities? You become part of a dynamic academic community with approximately 900 staff members, over 5,000 regular students and more than 5,000 course participants. In an inspiring and collegial environment, we work together on education and research with impact.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research.

Learn more about our codes of conduct.

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity

Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.