Postdoctoral Researcher
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I am a postdoctoral evolutionary and interdisciplinary behavioral scientist. I began my academic training in South Africa, studying topics like evolutionary biology and genetics, before completing an MSc at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, focusing on evolutionary psychology and animal behavior. I now study human behavior, examining how cognitive mechanisms and socio-ecological factors shape religion, politics, and the spread of information.
I completed my PhD in Quentin Atkinson's lab at the University of Auckland, investigating the evolutionary foundations of political ideology and how ideology relates to, for example, conformity and cooperation within and between groups in abstract economic games. I also taught research methods and statistics at Massey University.
In prior postdoctoral research, I worked with Alberto Acerbi at the University of Trento, applying cultural evolution theory to understand misinformation and what drives engagement with reliable information online.
Currently, I work with Martin Lang and members of the Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion to study religious intergroup bias and conflict from an evolutionary and computational cognitive science perspective.
More broadly, my research seeks to contribute to addressing societal challenges, including intergroup conflict and unhealthy information environments.
Publications:
Fischer, K. & Acerbi, A. (2026). Digital media. Evolution, Culture and Human Behaviour: A Comprehensive Introduction for Psychology and Anthropology Students. Open Book Publishers.
Fischer, K., Atkinson, Q., & Chaudhuri, A. (2025). Political psychology through the lens of behavioural economics. Elgar Encyclopedia of Behavioural and Experimental Economics. Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 335-338.
Fischer, K., Atkinson, Q., & Chaudhuri, A. (2021). Experiments in political psychology. A Research Agenda for Experimental Economics. Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 163-190.
Fischer, K., Chaudhuri, A., & Atkinson, Q. (2023). Dual evolutionary foundations of political ideology predict divergent responses to COVID-19. British Journal of Political Science, 53(3), 861-877.
Claessens, S., Fischer, K., Chaudhuri, A., Sibley, C., & Atkinson, Q. (2020). The dual evolutionary foundations of political ideology. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(4), 336-345.
Hoogeveen, S., Sarafoglou, A., Aczel, B., ... Fischer, K., … Nilsonne, G. (2022). A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 1-47.
Atkinson, Q., Claessens, S., Fischer, K., Lavender Forsyth, G., Kyritsis, T., Wiebels, K., & Moreau, D. (2022). Being specific about generalizability. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 1-3.