Publications

Documentary: “Youth & Truth in Northern Ireland: Lessons for Reducing Polarization” (2024) produced by Stories of Impact, Research team: Dautel, J., Corbett, B., Corriveau, K., Flynn, E., Grew, E., Kornbluh, M., McShane, C., Scholz, C., Watling Neal, J., Wood, L. & Xu, J., Link

Podcast: “Youth & Truth in Northern Ireland” (2024) produced by Stories of Impact, Research team: Dautel, J., Corbett, B., Corriveau, K., Flynn, E., Grew, E., Kornbluh, M., McShane, C., Scholz, C., Watling Neal, J., Wood, L. & Xu, J., Link

Neuromarketing Yearbook: Scholz, C. (2024) A neuroscience-based intervention to systematically increase (online) information sharing. The Neuromarketing Yearbook. Neuromarketing Science and Business Association.

Interview: In Europe, there is no political polarization, but rather “pillarization”: there are more than two groups with firm opinions, Author: Jorge Ratia, English link , Spanish publication

Blog post: 

How To Get People To Share Trustworthy Information Online (2025), Author: Hailey Reissman Link

Going along with the crowd: Why do we do it? (2015) Cascio, C.N., Scholz, C., Falk, E.B. Link

Newsletter: Dolinsek, Scholz, Giani, van Weert, van den Putte, Meppelink (2025). Gebruik bij gezondheidsberichten humor, video’s en interactieve internetgroepen. Nieuwsbrief Zorg & Innovatie. Link

Scholz, C., Chan, H.-Y., Hendriks, H., van Reijmersdal, E. (2024) The Social Life of Health-Promotion Messages: Alcohol Craving in Complex Information Environments. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/bakpd

Jovanova, M., Stanoi, O., Scholz, C., Doré, B., Cosme, D., Kang, Y., Cooper, N., Boyd, Z. M., Bassett, D.S., Mucha, P.J., Lydon-Staley, D.M., Ochsner, K.N., Falk, E.B. (2024). Brain responses and susceptibility to peer influence on drinking. http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/kahyg

Chan, H. Y., Scholz, C., Baek, E., & Falk, E. (2022). The gap between sharing and reading news on social media: A multi-method investigation. https://psyarxiv.com/65qwb

Kornbluh, M., Amador, R., Bell, S., Watling Neal, J., Simpson, S.B., Corbett, B., Corriveau, K., Flynn, E., McShane, C., Scholz, C., Wood, L., Xu, J., Dautel, J. (in press). Exploring facilitators and disruptors of polarization during adolescence within contested settings: A case study of Catholic and Protestant Youth in Northern Ireland. Journal of Adolescent Research. 

Cosme, D., Chan, H.Y., Benitez, C., Martin, R.E., Resnick, A., Carreras-Tartak, J., Cooper, N., Paul, A.M., Koelle, D., McVay, J., Falk, E.B., Scholz, C. (2025). Neural and behavioral evidence that message self and social relevance motivate content sharing. PNAS Nexus. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf019 

Derksen, M., Meirmans, S., Brenninkmeijer, J., Pols, J., de Boer, A., van Eeghen, H., Gayet, S., Groenwold, R., Hernaus, D., Huijnen, P., Jonker, N., de Kleijn, R., Kroll, C.F., Krypotos, A.-M., van der Laan, N., Luijken, K., Meijer, E., Pear, R.S.A., Peels, R., Peeters, R., Rulkens, C.C.S., Scholz, C., Smit, N., Stapel, R., de Winter, J. (in press). Replication studies in the Netherlands: Lessons learned and recommendations for funders, publishers and editors, and universities. Accountability in Research: Ethics, Integrity, and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2024.2383349

van der Laan, N., Scholz, C., Peels, R., Gayet, S., Groenewold, R., van Eygen, H., Pollman, M., Smit, N., Krypotos, A., Goudbek, M., Stapel, R., Peeters, R., de Kleijn, R. (21.6.2024). Tien jaar na de replicatiecrisis: de problematisch lage impact van replicatieonderzoek. Science Guide. https://www.scienceguide.nl/2024/06/tien-jaar-na-de-replicatiecrisis-de-problematisch-lage-impact-van-replicatieonderzoek/ 

Falk, E.B., Scholz, C., Cooper, N., Gomes, V. (in press) Behavior change and social influence. In: Gilbert, D., Fiske, S., Finkel, E., Mendes W. (Eds.) Handbook of Social Psychology, 6th Edition

Dolinsek, S., Scholz, C., Giani, S., van Weert, J., van den Putte, B., Meppelink, C. (2024) The role of mental well-being in the effects of persuasive health messages: A scoping review, Social Science and Medicine. 353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117060

Vlasceanu, M., Doell, K. C., Bak-Coleman, J. B., Todorova, B., Berkebile-Weinberg, M. M., Grayson, S. J., … Scholz, C., … & Lutz, A. E. (2024). Addressing climate change with behavioral science: A global intervention tournament in 63 countries. Science advances, 10(6), eadj5778.

Doell, K. C., Todorova, B., Vlasceanu, M., Coleman, J., … Scholz, C., … & van Bavel, J. (in press). The international climate psychology collaboration: Climate change-related data collected from 63 countries. Scientific Data. 11(1066). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03865-1

Chan, H.Y., Scholz, C., Cosme, D., Martin, R. E., Benitez, C., Resnick, A., Carreras-Tartak, J., Cooper, N., Paul, A.M., Falk, E.B. (2023) Neural signals predict information sharing across cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 122(44). e2313175120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2313175120

Tveleneva, A., Scholz, C., Falk, E.B., Yoon, C., Lieberman, M.D., Cooper, N., O’Donnell, M. B., Cascio, C.N. (2023) The relationship between agency, communion, and neural processes associated with conforming to social influence. Personal and Individual Differences. 213. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2023.112299

Chan, H.-Y., Boksem, M.A.S., Venkatraman, V., Dietvorst, R.C., Scholz, C., Vo, K., Falk, E.B., Smidts, A. (2023) Neural signals of video advertisement liking: Insights into psychological processes and their temporal dynamics. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022243723119431

Chang, L. A., Warns, L., Armaos, K., de Sousa, A. Q. M., Paauwe, F., Scholz, C., & Engelmann, J. B. (2023). Mentalizing in economic games is associated with enhanced activation and connectivity in left temporoparietal junction. Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience, 18(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsad023 Pre-Print: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2022/02/13/2022.02.12.480201.full.pdf

Sultan, M., Scholz, C., van den Bos, W. (2023). Using social media digital trace data to study adolescent well-being. Computers in Human Behavior Reports 10. 100281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2023.100281

Scholz, C., Baek, E.C., Falk, E.B. (2023). Invoking Self-Related and Social Thoughts Impacts Online Information Sharing. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 18(1). nsad013. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad013 

Wang, X., Scholz, C., Falk, E. B., & Lydon-Staley, D. M. (2023). Neuroimaging. In E. Ho, C. Bylund, J. van Weert, I. Basnyat, N. Bol, & M. Dean (Eds.), International encyclopedia of health communication. Wiley-Blackwell. PDF

Scholz, C., Chan, H.Y., Poldrack, R.A., de Ridder, D.T.D., Smidts, A., van der Laan, L.N. (online publication ahead of print), Can we have a second helping? A preregistered direct replication study on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying self-control. Human Brain Mapping 12(4), 272-282, https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26065, Dataset: 10.18112/openneuro.ds002643.v1.1.0

Meijers, M. H., Scholz, C., Torfadóttir, R., Wonneberger, A., & Markov, M. (2022). Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic to combat climate change: comparing drivers of individual action in global crises. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 12(2), 272-282.

Cosme, D., Scholz, C., Chan, H. Y., Doré, B. P., Pandey, P., Carreras-Tartak, J., … & Falk, E. B. (2022). Message self and social relevance increases intentions to share content: Correlational and causal evidence from six studies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. PDF

Baek, E.C., O’Donnel, M.B., Scholz, C., Pei, R., Garcia, J.O., Vettel, J.M., Falk, E.B. (2021). Activity in the brain’s valuation and metnalizing networks is associated with propagation of online recommendations. Scientific Reports 11(1), 1-11. PDF

Chan, H.-Y., Scholz, C., Baek, E., O’Donnell, M. B., & Falk, E. (2021). Being the gatekeeper: How thinking about sharing affects neural encoding of information. Cerebral Cortex. PDF

Doré, B., Scholz, C., Baek, E.C., Falk, E.B. (2020). Health news sharing is reflected in distributed reward-related brain activity. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 15(10), 1111-1119. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa129, PDF,  Supplementary materials

Huskey, R., Bue, A.C., Eden, A., Grall, C., Meshi, D., Prena, K., Schmälzle, R., Scholz, C., Turner, B.O., Wilcox, S. (Authors in alphabetical order after first author; 2020). Marr’s Tri-Level Framework Integrates Communication Science Across Disciplinary Subfield. Journal of Communication, 70(3), 35-378. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqaa007

Hendriks, H., Scholz, C., Larsen, H., de Bruijn, G., van den Putte, S.B. (2020). Intervening through conversations: How instructions influence conversational valence and binge drinking determinants. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1712524

Scholz, C., Baek, E.C., Jovanova, M., Falk, E.B. (2020). Media Content Sharing as a Value-Based Decision. Current Opinion in Psychology, 31, 83-88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.08.004, PDF

Scholz, C., Baek, E. C., O’Donnell, M. B., & Falk, E. B. (2020). Decision-making about broad- and narrowcasting: A Neuroscientific Perspective, Media Psychology, 23(1), 131-155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2019.1572522,
Data and code available online: https://github.com/cnlab/narrowbroad, PDF

Baek, E.C., Scholz, C. Falk, E.B. (2020). The neuroscience of information propagation: Key role of the mentalizing system. In: Floyd, K. & Weber, R. (Eds.) Handbook of Communication Science and Biology. New York, NY: Routledge. PDF

Scholz, C., Falk, E. B. (2020). The neuroscience of information sharing. In S. Gonzalez-Bailon, B. Foucault Welles. (Eds.) Handbook of Communication in the Networked Age. Oxford University Press. PDF

Scholz, C., Doré, B. P., Cooper, N., Falk, E. B. (2019). Neural Valuation of Anti-Drinking Campaigns and Risky Peer Influence in Daily Life. Health Psychology 38(7), 658-667. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000732, PDF, Supplementary Materials

Doré, B. P., Cooper, N., Scholz, C., O’Donnell, M. B., Falk, E. B. (2019). Cognitive regulation of ventromedial prefrontal activity evokes lasting change in the perceived self-relevance of persuasive messaging. Human Brain Mapping, 40(9), 2571-2580. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24545, PDF, Supplementary Materials

Doré, B., Scholz, C., Baek, E. C., O’Donnell, M. B., & Falk, E. B. (2019). Brain Activity Tracks Population Information Sharing by Capturing Consensus Judgments of Value. Cerebral Cortex. 29(7), 3102-2110, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhy176, PDF

Kang, Y., Cooper N., Pandey, P., Scholz, C., O’Donnell M. B., Lieberman M. D., Taylor, S. E., Strecher V. J., Dal Cin S., Konrath, S., Polk, T. A., Resnicow, K., An L., Falk, E.B. (2018). Effects of Self-Transcendence on Neural Responses to Persuasive Messages and Health Behavior Change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(40), 9974-9979. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1805573115, PDF

Falk, E. B., Scholz, C. (2018). Persuasion, Influence, and Value: Perspectives from Communication and Social Neuroscience. Annual Review of Psychology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011821, PDF

Scholz, C.*, Baek, E. C.*, O’Donnell, M. B., Kim, H. S., Cappella, J. N., & Falk, E. B. (2017). A neural model of valuation and information virality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, DOI: 1073/pnas.1615259114, PDF, Supplementary Materials
Data and code available online: https://github.com/cnlab/viralityPNAS

Baek, E. C.*, Scholz, C.*, O’Donnell, M. B., & Falk, E. B. (2017). The value of sharing information: A neural account of information transmission. Psychological Science, PDF, Supplementary Materials
Data and code available online: https://github.com/cnlab/valuesharing

*shared first authors

Cascio, C. N., Scholz, C., & Falk, E. B. (2015). Social influence and the brain: persuasion, susceptibility to influence and retransmission. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 3, 51-57. DOI: 1016/j.cobeha.2015.01.007, PDF

Bol, N., Scholz, C., Smets, E. M., Loos, E. F., de Haes, H. C., & van Weert, J. C. (2013). Senior Patients Online: Which Functions Should a Good Patient Website Offer?. In C. Stephanidis, M. Antona (Eds.) Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. User and Context Diversity. UAHCI 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 8010. Berlin: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-39191-0_4