Vera Hoorens is a full professor of social psychology at the Center of Social and Cultural Psychology of KU Leuven – University of Leuven, and holds doctoral degrees in psychology and in arts (history). Her psychological research is in the field of social cognition, which can be generally described as being about how people think about their and other people’s traits, abilities, behaviors, and circumstances. Her specific research topics of greatest relevance to COVID-19 are risk perception and the perception of one’s own and other people’s precautionary and risk behavior, and how these relate to compliance with public health recommendations.