Symen A. Brouwers

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Dr. Symen A. Brouwers is a global Cross-Cultural Psychology research leader with twenty+ years hands-on field experience in Africa, Asia, and Europe. He grew up in the Netherlands within sight of the sea, sand, and mud flats that is now a Unesco World Heritage Site. His childhood was filled with books on cultural history and, until today his inspiration draws as much from world literature as it does from professional academic publications. Currently he is an Extraordinary Research Scientist at the WorkWell Research Unit of North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, and conducts research on a freelance basis, most recently for UNICEF in Eswatini, Kenya, and Namibia on children with disability and social norms related to their school going. His writing has appeared within the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology and the blogs of Ruminate Magazine and UNICEF. Symen received a PhD in Cross-Cultural Psychology from Tilburg University, The Netherlands (2008), and lives in South Africa since 2014, where he is married, and he and his wife are expecting their first baby.

Experience

  • 2018–present
    Senior Research Consultant, Hecht Insights
  • 2020–present
    Extraordinary Research Scientist, North-West University
  • 2018–present
    Senior Research Associate, UNICEF East and Southern Africa
  • 2014–2019
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow, North-West University
  • 2013–2013
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Zürich
  • 2008–2011
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ghent University
  • 2003–2008
    PhD Student, Tilburg University
  • 2003–2007
    Editorial Assistant, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

Education

  • 2008 
    Tilburg University, PhD, Cross-Cultural Psychology
  • 2002 
    Tilburg University, MA, Developmental Psychology

Publications

  • 2020
    Exploring the Effects of Acculturative Stress and Social Support on the Acculturation-Depression Relationship in Two Countries of Similar Social Status, Journal of International Migration and Integration
  • 2020
    Well-Being Orientations and Time Perspective Across Tightness-Looseness Latent Classes in Africa, Journal of Happiness Studies
  • 2018
    The Positive Role of Culture: What Cross-Cultural Psychology Has to Offer to Developmental Aid Effectiveness Research, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
  • 2017
    Bias and Equivalence of the Strengths Use and Deficit Correction Questionnaire in a South African Context, South African Journal of Human Resource Management
  • 2017
    Cognitive Development through Schooling and Everyday Life: A Natural Experiment among Kharwar Children in India, International Journal of Behavioral Development
  • 2016
    Bias and equivalence of the Strengths Use and Deficit Correction questionnaire., South African Journal of Industrial Psychology
  • 2015
    Contextualizing Intelligence in Assessment: The Next Step, Human Resource Management Review
  • 2014
    Development and Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of a Short Form of the Orientations to Happiness Questionnaire in German-Speaking Countries, Swiss Journal of Psychology
  • 2011
    The Assessment of Emotional Awareness in Children: Validation of the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale for Children, European Journal of Psychological Assessment
  • 2009
    Variation in Raven’s Progressive Matrices Scores across Time and Place, Learning and Individual Differences
  • 2009
    Schooling and Basic Aspects of Intelligence: A Natural Quasi-Experiment in Malawi, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
  • 2006
    Schooling and Everyday Cognitive Development among Kharwar Children in India: A Natural Experiment, International Journal of Behavioral Development
  • 2004
    A Historical Analysis of Empirical Studies Published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology: 1970-2004, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

Professional Memberships

  • Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)
  • International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP)

Contact Symen for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision