Dr. Melike Fourie is a Senior Researcher in the Historical Trauma and Transformation Unit. She holds an MSc in cognitive neuropsychology from University College London (2006), and a PhD in affective neuroscience from the University of Cape Town (2011). Her research interests span the domains of social psychology and social neuroscience, with a particular focus on intergroup relations. More specifically, she is interested in identifying and characterising the factors that affect how we see and respond to members of social (racial) outgroups, but also in the processes that may bring about individual and societal change. She believes a deeper understanding of implicit brain processes that drive behaviour is key in this undertaking. Melike is also involved in various community transformation projects designed to transcend racial biases and foster empathy and restitution. Her hope is to make a small contribution toward a more equal and racially-integrated society through her research.

Melike has lectured broadly in cognitive neuroscience, clinical neuropsychology, social psychology and statistics, and has several publications in international peer-reviewed journals and books.

E-mail: melikef@sun.ac.za |Phone: +27 (21) 808 9742

Recent Publications

Book Chapters

Fourie, M.M. (2021). Walking in another’s shoes: Empathy and perspective taking in second generation South African students. In P. Gobodo-Madikizela, E. Ndushabandi, & K. Ratele (Eds), Historical trauma and memory: Living with the haunting power of the past. Stellenbosch: African Sun Media.

Benjamin, L., & Fourie, M.M. (2019). The intergenerational effects of mass trauma in sculpting new perpetrators. In S.C. Knittel & Z.J. Goldberg (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of perpetrator studies. (pp. 276-286). Germany: Routledge

Fourie, M.M., Subramoney, S., & Gobodo-Madikizela, P. (2017). A less attractive feature of empathy: Intergroup empathy bias. In M. Kondo (Ed.), Empathy – An evidence-based Interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 45-61). InTech. ISBN 978-953-51-5420-4

Journal Articles

Fourie, M. M., Cilliers, M., & Moore-Berg, S. L. (2022). Hierarchies of being human: Intergroup dehumanization and its implication in present-day South Africa. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 28(3), 345.

Fourie, M. M., & Moore-Berg, S. L. (2022). We cannot empathize with what we do not recognize: Perceptions of structural versus interpersonal racism in South Africa. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 838675.

Fourie, M.M., & Verwoerd, W.J. (2021). Covid-19 as natural intervention: Guilt and perceived historical privilege contributes to structural reform under conditions of crisis. Special Issue on Structural Racism and Affective Science, Affective Science

Fourie, M. M., & Verwoerd, W. J. (2022). Covid-19 as natural intervention: Guilt and perceived historical privilege contributes to structural reform under conditions of crisis. Affective Science, 3(1), 34-45.

Fourie, M.M., Hortensius, R., & Decety, J. (2020). Parsing the components of forgiveness: Psychological and neural mechanisms. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 112, 437-451

Fourie, M.M., Stein, D.J., Solms, M., Gobodo-Madikizela, P., & Decety, J. (2019). Effects of early adversity and social discrimination on empathy for complex mental states: An fMRI investigation. Scientific Reports, 9, 12959

Fourie, M.M., Stein, D.J., Solms, M., Gobodo-Madikizela, P., & Decety, J. (2017). Empathy and moral emotions in post-apartheid South-Africa: An fMRI investigation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12 (6), 881-892