Cognitive Scientist @kingscollegelon | Co-PI / Research & Policy Director @XCEPT_Research | ✍🏾 📺 NY Times, WaPo, The Atlantic, NYRB, Foreign Affairs, Netflix
London
Joined February 2015
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Here’s the embedded vid below of my opinion piece on how we can reduce the virtual blast radius of a terrorist attack by how we talk.
What makes people willing to fight and die for their beliefs? @nafeeshamid and his colleagues scanned the brains of supporters of groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda to find out. nyti.ms/2vn5iQ5
Yeah, Robbin Williams helped talk me into brain scanning extremists. Check out how, here:
Robin Williams, Indiana Jones… and al-Qaeda. @XCEPT_Research's Research and Policy Director @NafeesHamid tells his story – and questions the weight of science against the power of our own stories to tell us who we are.
Read the interview 👇 csns.uk/2026/09/10/interview…
ALT Man walking by secure fencing in shadows of bright sunlight
Nafees Hamid, PhD retweeted
Robin Williams, Indiana Jones… and al-Qaeda. @XCEPT_Research's Research and Policy Director @NafeesHamid tells his story – and questions the weight of science against the power of our own stories to tell us who we are.
Read the interview 👇 csns.uk/2026/09/10/interview…
ALT Man walking by secure fencing in shadows of bright sunlight
Nafees Hamid, PhD retweeted
How have shifts in brain hemispheric dominance shaped trust, institutions & the rise and fall of civilisations throughout history?
I sit down with @dr_mcgilchrist to discuss what this means for how governments & practitioners build & lose legitimacy in conflict-affected settings
“If you think you've heard about this before, just forget everything you think you know.”
New @XCEPT_Research podcast episode 'The Divided Brain' with @dr_mcgilchrist and @NafeesHamid.
🎙️ Listen here: soundcloud.com/warstudies/th…
How have shifts in brain hemispheric dominance shaped trust, institutions & the rise and fall of civilisations throughout history?
I sit down with @dr_mcgilchrist to discuss what this means for how governments & practitioners build & lose legitimacy in conflict-affected settings
“If you think you've heard about this before, just forget everything you think you know.”
New @XCEPT_Research podcast episode 'The Divided Brain' with @dr_mcgilchrist and @NafeesHamid.
🎙️ Listen here: soundcloud.com/warstudies/th…
🎙️ Listen here: soundcloud.com/warstudies/th…
🚨 We've just published a new article🚨
We look at the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on violent extremism and radicalisation pathways.
Here's what we found:
New journal article: Adverse childhood experiences and violent extremism 👇
csns.uk/2026/08/10/adverse-c…
How can we know what is more likely to lead some people to violent extremism than others? Our @XCEPT_Research team asks how our earlier years play a role.
ALT What childhood adversity has to do with radicalisation
ALT Higher rates of childhood adversity than in the general population
ALT 3 implications: trauma-informed prevention is needed; more longitudinal evidence is needed; continuation in education is a potential protective factor
ALT King's College London, XCEPT
Please see the full-open access article here:
advances.in/psychology/10.56…
With thanks to my co-authors Teja Pammi, @catcecca, Sam Hibbs, Jemima Chase, and Fiona McEwen!
Is having a "business mindset" bad for business? This is the topic I explore in this latest podcast. We draw on my behavioural & neuroscience research on drivers and resolvers of political conflicts & apply them to the business world.
youtube.com/watch?v=B6Bjmxyp…
Nafees Hamid, PhD retweeted
New study finds Grievances with the Lebanese state, not sectarian loyalty, are driving popular support for the group retaining its guns.
I'm pleased to share this article that I co-authored with @lock_nils for @ForeignPolicy .
We conducted a nat rep survey with 2000 Lebanese + interviewed 300. While only 18% said they supported Hezbollah politically, 45% opposed their disarmament. Why? foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/11…
Nafees Hamid, PhD retweeted
New findings in @ForeignPolicy from the @XCEPT_Research team today: why 45% of Lebanese people oppose Hezbollah disarmament - when only 18% support them politically.
@KingsCollegeLon @warstudies
I'm pleased to share this article that I co-authored with @lock_nils for @ForeignPolicy .
We conducted a nat rep survey with 2000 Lebanese + interviewed 300. While only 18% said they supported Hezbollah politically, 45% opposed their disarmament. Why? foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/11…
I'm pleased to share this article that I co-authored with @lock_nils for @ForeignPolicy .
We conducted a nat rep survey with 2000 Lebanese + interviewed 300. While only 18% said they supported Hezbollah politically, 45% opposed their disarmament. Why? foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/11…
It was great hosting this timely podcast on the role of nostalgia in driving conflict. Check it out
What role does nostalgia play in driving conflict?
🎧New podcast with @NafeesHamid @irisharab7 @CVoyvodic Maria El Sammak for @XCEPT_Research @warstudies
bit.ly/4wnNeyy
Pleased to publish @XCEPT_Research on the lessons from our qualitative research in the Middle East. These are combined with psychometric surveys, intervention tournaments, and RCTs to gain a wholistic picture of psycho-socio-structural drives of political violence and peace.
📝 NEW COMMENTARY | One Thousand and One Interviews: Lessons from Qualitative Research in the Middle East
@rajanbasra explores the challenges of gathering empirical data in high-fear, high-trauma settings across Iraq and Lebanon.
@XCEPT_Research
csns.uk/2026/03/31/one-thous…
Important work we've published by @lock_nils. Personal adversities (death of family member, job loss) more predictive of protest behaviour than political adversities (war, conflict). Personal -> political. He and I, along w/Fiona McEwen, will publish the academic verison soon.
📝 NEW POLICY BRIEF | Why do some individuals turn to violent protest while others remain peaceful?
Read @lock_nils' new piece for the @XCEPT_Research programme.
🔗bit.ly/4sGBMvW
