Research

My research examines why individuals engage in collective political action, often at extreme personal sacrifice, particularly where the stakes are highest, such as environments affected by violent conflict. Extreme political behaviour is in one sense an acute collective action problem: why risk so much for a cause that usually offers no individual incentives? Studying these decisions made under deep uncertainty contributes to our understanding of human behaviour more generally, too. My work takes place at the individual level, combining quantitative methods with extensive fieldwork interviewing protesters, members of armed groups, political leaders, and civilians in some of the world's most conflict-affected places.

Peer-reviewed journals

• Mallock, N., & Krekel, C. (2025). Proximity to settlements in the West Bank shifts political action towards high-risk engagement and raises perceived relative deprivation. Political Psychology. [Publisher] [Download]
• Mallock, N., McEwen, F., & Hamid, N. (in review). Protesting when your life is on the line: Pathways to collective action in conflict-affected environments. [Preprint] [Download]
• Mallock, N., Ginges, J. (in review). A fundamental cognitive bias increases support for violence against civilians. [Preprint] [Download]
• Mallock, N., McDonald, B., Aldoughli, R., & Hamid, N. (in review). Moral outrage, not instrumental reasoning, drives extreme commitment among armed groups in civil war. [Preprint] [Download]
• Mallock, N. (in review). Compensatory responses to existential uncertainty: Self-affirmation can buffer against non-normative collective action intentions in Iraq. [Preprint] [Download]

Policy & Analysis

• Mallock, N., & Hamid, N. (2026, May 11). Who Wants Hezbollah to Stay Armed? Grievances with the Lebanese state, not sectarian loyalty, are driving popular support for the group retaining its guns. Foreign Policy. [Publisher] [Download]
• Mallock, N. (2026, March 29). The psychology of peaceful and violent protest: Research insights from Iraq and beyond. XCEPT Policy Briefing Note. [Publisher] [Download]
• Mallock, N. (2026, March 17). Beyond recognition: Research insights to address future challenges in Palestine and Israel. XCEPT Policy Briefing Note. [Publisher] [Download]
• Mallock, N. (2025, September 26). Geography and politics stand in the way of an independent Palestinian state. The Conversation. [Publisher] [Download]
• Mallock, N. (2025, February 21). We asked the people of Gaza how they saw their future – this is what we found: Support for Hamas is declining -- no obvious alternative has emerged, but our poll shows there are reasons to be hopeful. The Guardian. [Publisher] [Download]
• Mallock, N., & Ginges, J. (2025, February 12). We interviewed hundreds of Israelis and Gazans – here’s why we fear for the ceasefire. The Conversation. [Publisher] [Download]
• Hamid, N., Mallock, N., McDonald, B., & Aldoughli, R. (2025, January 31). The right way to engage with Syria’s new rulers: Economic aid can undermine rebel leaders. Foreign Affairs. [Publisher] [Download]
• Wilton Park, Mallock, N., & McEwen, F. (2024, July 26). Conflict trauma and youth: exploring approaches for recovery and conflict prevention in the Middle East and North Africa. Wilton Park. [Publisher] [Download]
• Mallock, N. (2022, August 9). Motivations and forms of Palestinian political action. Konrad Adenauer Foundation. [Publisher] [Download]
• Mallock, N. (2020, November 22). Political violence and activism: A defence mechanism against personal uncertainty?. Konrad Adenauer Foundation Publication Series ‘Beirut to Baghdad’. [Publisher] [Download]

Invited Talks & Conference Presentations

• Mallock, N. (2026, May 29). Moral Versus Instrumental Pathways to Political Action in conflict-affected environments. Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science 2026 (Barcelona, Spain).
• Mallock, N. (2025, November 16). Europe and the Middle East: Finding constructive engagement amid fragmentation. Middle East Peace and Security Forum (Duhok, Iraq).
• Mallock, N. (2025, July 4). The role of perceived group efficacy in motivating violent and peaceful political action: Evidence from Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Annual meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (Prague, Czech Republic).
• Laffan, K., Mallock, N., Melios., G., & Valentim., A. (2025, July 2). The impact of climate-based natural disasters. LSE Festival 2025 (London, United Kingdom).
• Mallock, N. (2025, May 15). Illiberal Peace or Stability? Turkey’s Regional Approach (Syria, Libya, Iraq). Royal United Services Institute (London, United Kingdom).
• Weiss, M., Aldoughli, R., Hamid, N., McDonald, B., & Mallock, N. (2025, May 14). Insights from Syria’s rebel fighters. Syria Conference by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (London, United Kingdom).
• Mallock, N. (2025, March 12). Understanding Conflict -- Insights from Behavioral Science (Keynote). Insight4Impact (Frankfurt, Germany).
• Mallock, N. (2025, February 20). How personal uncertainty drives normative and non-normative political action: Experimental evidence from Iraq. Annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2025 (Denver, United States).
• Mallock, N. (2024, September 23). Ending Wars. 11th Annual Conference on the Resolution of Intractable Conflict (Oxford, United Kingdom).
• Mallock, N. (2024, July 24). Conflict trauma and youth: exploring approaches for recovery and conflict prevention in the Middle East and North Africa. Wilton Park Roundtable (Wilton Park, United Kingdom).
• Mallock, N. (2024, June 23). Individual-level motives to engage in peaceful and violent political action. Annual meeting of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (Philadelphia, United States).
• Mallock, N. (2024, February 8). Israeli settlements, Palestinian protests, and individual perceptions in intergroup conflict. Annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2024 (San Diego, United States).
• Mallock, N. (2024, February 8). On psychological fieldwork in conflict researchLE. Conflict and Conflict Resolution SPSP Preconference (San Diego, United States).
• Mallock, N. (2024, February 7). Using geographical locations to test mechanisms of violent protest engagement in the West Bank. Psychology of Extremism SPSP Preconference (San Diego, United States).
• Mallock, N. (2023, June 21). Engagement through exposure? Climate activism following extreme weather events. International Conference on Environmental Psychology (Aarhus, Denmark).
• Mallock, N. (2022, July 8). Motivations crowding across forms of political action. Annual meeting of the International Association People-Environment Studies (Lisbon, Portugal).

Media Coverage

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Theses

• Mallock, N. (2025). Pathways to political violence and peaceful protest in conflict-affected environments. PhD Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (Supervisors: Christian Krekel & Liam Delaney; Reviewers: Scott Atran, Eran Halperin, Dario Krpan).
• Mallock, N. (2020). Comfort in radicalism? Self-affirmation, personal characteristics and political violence in Iraq. Unpublished MSc Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (Awarded the Rob Farr Award for Best Dissertation -- one award per year).
• Mallock, N. (2018). Cryptography in blockchain systems: Analysis of current implementations and their sustainability. Unpublished BSc Thesis, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.