Biography
As a cultural sociologist, I aim to rigorously scrutinize how social groups give meaning to social issues, how this informs their actions and how it shapes their responses to new information and the (urban) environment they live in.
Scholars and policymakers increasingly recognize that such an eye for culture is crucial for understanding pressing social issues, ranging from societal clashes about democratic institutions and policies to unresponsiveness to information campaigns, and from obesity to resistance to governmental health campaigns.
I aim for interdisciplinary research endeavors addressing contemporary social issues through both quantitative and qualitative methods, ranging from multilevel analyses, survey experiments, Implicit Association Tests and Diagonal Reference Models to qualitative content analyses, focus groups and in-depth interviews. Currently, I collaborate with scholars in arts and culture studies, psychology, public administration, public health, urban geography and sociology.
My research has been supported by grants (Conflict & Security and personal VENI and VIDI grants) awarded by The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), an EUR Fellowship and several smaller grants.
I am proud that the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities has given me the award for "Best PhD Supervisor".
In addition to my research activities, I teach various courses, among others in Erasmus University's Master specialization Politics & Society (which I co-founded) and the top-rated Research Master in Sociology of Culture, Media and the Arts.
I also serve as board member of the Netherlands Sociological Association, as reviewer for various journals, and on the editorial board of the Dutch-Flemish peer-reviewed journal Tijdschrift Sociologie.
For an up-to-date overview of my research and teaching, please visit my Google Scholar Profile and my personal website.
Research interests: cultural conflict, political attitudes and behaviors, information provision, voting behavior, populism, welfare chauvinism, obesity, health behaviors
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
- dekoster@essb.eur.nl
- Location
- Burg. Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam
More information
Work
- Thijs Lindner, Jonathan Mijs, Willem de Koster & Jeroen van der Waal (2023) - Does informing citizens about the non-meritocratic nature of inequality bolster support for a universal basic income? Evidence from a population-based survey experiment - European Societies - doi: 10.1080/14616696.2023.2272263
- Kjell Noordzij, Willem de Koster & Jeroen van der Waal (2023) - Explaining the educational gradient in trust in politicians: A video-vignette survey experiment - West European Politics
- Emiel Rijshouwer, Justus Uitermark & Willem de Koster (2023) - Wikipedia: A self-organizing bureaucracy - Information Communication and Society, 26 (7), 1285-1302 - doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2021.1994633 - [link]
- Thijs Lindner, Willem De Koster & Jeroen Van der Waal (2022) - Different understandings of welfare benefits among the Dutch public: A focus group study - Social Policy and Administration, 56 (7), 990-1005 - doi: 10.1111/spol.12816 - [link]
- Tim van Meurs, Joost Oude Groeniger, Willem de Koster & Jeroen van der Waal (2022) - Receptive to an authoritative voice? Experimental evidence on how patronizing language and stressing institutional sources affect public receptivity to nutrition information - SSM - Population Health, 20 - doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101295 - [link]
- Willem de Koster (2022) - Over de betekenis van betekenis
- Kjell Noordzij, Katerina Manevska, Willem de Koster & Jeroen van der Waal (2022) - Gevoelens van zeggenschap in de politiek onder praktisch geschoolden - Maatschappij en Politiek: vakblad voor maatschappij leer, 5, 14-15 - [link]
- Elske van den Hoogen, Willem de Koster & Jeroen van der Waal (2022) - What does the EU actually mean to citizens?: An in-depth study of Dutch citizens' understandings and evaluations of the European Union - Journal of Common Market Studies (JCMS), 60 (5), 1432-1448 - doi: 10.1111/jcms.13314 - [link]
- Joost Oude Groeniger, Alexi Gugushvili, Willem de Koster & Jeroen van der Waal (2022) - Population health, not individual health, drives support for populist parties - PNAS nexus, 1 (3) - doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac057
- Tim van Meurs, Feray R. Çoban, Willem de Koster, Jeroen van der Waal & Joost Oude Groeniger (2022) - Why are anti-smoking health-information interventions less effective among low-socioeconomic status groups?: A systematic scoping review - Drug and Alcohol Review, 41 (5), 1195-1205 - doi: 10.1111/dar.13466 - [link]
- Michael Berghman, Julian Schaap, Koen Eijck, Willem Koster & Jeroen Waal (2020) - Learning from Latency in Sociological Research: Using the Implicit Association Test to make sense of Timed-Surveys
- Willem Koster (2010) - 'I Like to Stand up Against Injustice': On a Social Movement Emerged at “Your Guide Against Senseless Speed Controls
- Willem Koster (2010) - European Journal of Political Research (Journal)
- Willem Koster (2010) - Information, Communication and Society (print) (Journal)
- Willem Koster (2010) - Sociologie (Journal)
- Willem Koster (2009) - Information, Communication and Society (online) (Journal)
- Willem Koster (2009) - Sociologie (Journal)
- Willem Koster (2008) - Sociologie (Journal)
- Willem Koster (2008) - Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Journal)
- Willem Koster (2008) - Social Forces (print) (Journal)
NWO
- Start date approval
- september 2022
- End date approval
- september 2025
- Place
- DEN HAAG
- Description
- Lid Wetenschappelijk Adviescollege NWO
Tijdschrift Sociologie
- Start date approval
- september 2022
- End date approval
- september 2025
- Place
- AMSTERDAM
- Description
- Lid redactieraad
European Social Survey
- Start date approval
- november 2023
- End date approval
- november 2026
- Place
- LONDEN
- Description
- Scientific Advisory Board European Social Survey
1.1C Introduction to Sociology
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- ESSB-S1010
4.1 The Social Bases of Politics
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- FSWS-710
1.1C Introduction to Sociology
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- FSWS-1010
Advanced Quantitative Methods
- Level
- MA-1
- Year Level
- MA-1
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- CS5005