Michael Bang Petersen (born 5 January 1980) is a Danish political scientist. He is a professor at Aarhus University, with research focusing on human evolutionary psychology and its role in politics. Starting in 2020, he led HOPE, a project examining responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in democratic countries and contributing to the Danish government's response to the pandemic.

Biography

Petersen was born on 5 January 1980 in Kolding, Denmark. He earned a PhD in political science from Aarhus University in 2007.[1]

Research

Since 2020, Petersen has led the HOPE project, researching global attitudes to the COVID-19 pandemic and advising the Danish government.[2] The project's mission of transparently explaining how COVID-19 restrictions in Denmark to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 helped Danish citizens maintain confidence in the government and contributed to Denmark's relatively successful handling of the early stages of the pandemic.[3] For his work on citizen and government trust in Denmark during the pandemic, he earned the 2022 Forskningskommunikationsprisen (Research Communication Award) from the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science.[4][5]

Peterson is also the director of the Research on Online Political Hostility Project through the Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Science.[6] He has researched the evolutionary foundations of political misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theory beliefs.[7]

Peterson has contributed to and been cited in newspapers and magazines including The New York Times,[8] The Atlantic,[9] The Washington Post,[10] and The Irish Times.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Altinget - Alt om politik: altinget.dk". www.altinget.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Thompson, Derek (4 February 2022). "How Denmark Decided COVID Isn't a Critical Threat to Society". The Atlantic. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  3. ↑ Kokkegård, Hanne (29 October 2021). "The HOPE project is honored for important Corona research - DTU Compute". DTU Compete. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Professor får stor pris for at følge coronabekymringer". TV2 ØSTJYLLAND (in Danish). 29 April 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Forskningskommunikationsprisen 2022 — Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet". ufm.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2022-05-28.
  6. ↑ "Research on Online Political Hostility - Meet the Team". School of Business and Social Science | Aarhus University (in Danish). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  7. ↑ Rosenberg, Paul (8 August 2021). "A terrifying new theory: Fake news and conspiracy theories as an evolutionary strategy". Salon. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  8. ↑ Edsall, Thomas B. (9 February 2022). "Opinion | Status Anxiety Is Blowing Wind Into Trump's Sails". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  9. ↑ Thompson, Derek (26 September 2021). "How America Dropped to No. 36". The Atlantic. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  10. ↑ Taylor, Adam (1 Feb 2022). "Researchers are asking why some countries were better prepared for covid. One surprising answer: Trust". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  11. ↑ Paul, Mark (2 Feb 2022). "Caveat: We can't forget the necessity of Covid restrictions but don't dismiss what they cost us". The Irish Times. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
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