Jocelyn J. Bélanger

Jocelyn J. Bélanger is a faculty member in Arts and Science at Carnegie Mellon University Qatar. Bélanger's research addresses the psychological mechanisms underlying political violence and radicalization, including the roles of obsessive passion, moral identity, ideological obsession, and relative deprivation in driving support for extremism. Additional work examines public health behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, including cooperation, trust, and risk perception across multiple countries, as well as broader questions of within-person dynamics and deliberate engagement. Bélanger has also contributed to research on counternarrative effectiveness, cult conversion, and the conditions under which individuals support or reject violent activism.