Michael Bang Petersen

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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