About Me
About Me
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Heather A. Kumove is a PhD Candidate in the Peace and Violence program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is currently working under the guidance of Dr. Brian Lickel on her dissertation exploring the role of group-based grief in intergroup aggression. She received her BA with honors in Psychology with a minor in Government in 2017 from Reichman University (formerly the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel). Her work focuses broadly on identifying factors contributing to intergroup violence, harm-doing, and political polarization. The aim of her research is to identify factors that contribute to the perpetration of intergroup violence, exploring how these beliefs can be shifted to promote peaceful and less extreme attitudes, with the ultimate goal of preventing future atrocities.
Through interdisciplinary, cross-cultural research, I study conflict to generate insights that inform real-world interventions and reduce violence.
Through interdisciplinary, cross-cultural research, I study conflict to generate insights that inform real-world interventions and reduce violence.
CV
CV
Kumove Academic CV 2026.docx
Research Interests
Research Interests
Intergroup conflict; political polarization; intergroup attitudes and emotions; moral beliefs; and human rights.
Selected Publications
Selected Publications
Żemojtel-Piotrowska, M., Piotrowski, J., Saroglou, V., Nowak, B., Maltby, J., Adamovic, M., Aminnuddin, N. A., Appiah, S. C. Y., Ardi, R., Aktar, R., Babakr, Z. H., Baldursson, E. B., Bălțătescu, S., Aytaç, M. B., Bolatov, A., Bonato, M., Bonfa, B., Burghardt, M., Clark, M., … Kumove, H. A., … Zand, S. (2025). Beyond religious narcissistic identification: Agnostic and atheistic narcissism. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion.
Żemojtel-Piotrowska, M. A., Radkiewicz, P., Rudnev, M., Kumove, H. A., & Piotrowski, J. (2025). Collective narcissism, left- and right-wing authoritarianisms, and justification of war. Politics and Governance, 13(3), Article 10025. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.10025
Kumove, H. A., Hirschberger, G., & Ben-David, B. M. (2024). Left out and vilified: Do the effects of political metaphors on spatial orientation judgments indicate a taboo effect?. Cognition and Emotion, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2024.2434148
Education
Education
The University of Massachusetts Amherst
(2023 – Present)
Expected degree Spring of 2027
Ph.D. Social Psychology
Focus on Peace and Violence Psychology
Primary Advisor: Professor Brian Lickel
The University of Massachusetts Amherst
(2020 – 2023)
M.S. Social Psychology
Focus on Peace and Violence Psychology
Primary Advisor: Professor Bernhard Leidner (Deceased); Professor Linda Isbell (Master’s Thesis Chair)
Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (Reichman University)
(2014 – 2017)
B.A. (Honors) in Psychology - Raphael Recanati International School, summa cum laude
Psychology School Honors Program
Government Minor
Brain and Mind Honors Internship
Honors Thesis: Does Death Strike Fear into the Heart? Cardiac Reactivity and Death Reminders the Physiological Correlates of Mortality Salience
Supervisor: Professor Gilad Hirschberger
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