{"id":5718,"date":"2022-03-11T11:18:55","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T09:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/?page_id=5718"},"modified":"2026-03-13T17:27:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T17:27:22","slug":"secil-gonultas-ph-d","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/?page_id=5718","title":{"rendered":"Se\u00e7il G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f, Ph.D."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Se\u00e7il G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f<\/strong><\/span><br><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Education<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, University of Exeter, England (2021-2022)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ph.D. Lifespan Developmental Psychology, North Carolina State University, USA (2017-2021)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">M.A. Developmental Psychology, Ko\u00e7 University, Turkey (2015-2017)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">B.A. Psychology, Bo\u011fazi\u00e7i University, Turkey (2009-2014)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Research<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f\u2019s research focuses on understanding how group processes (e.g., prejudice, discrimination, and threat perception) and social-cognitive mechanisms (e.g., Theory of Mind) shape children\u2019s and adolescents\u2019 attitudes and behaviors in intergroup contexts. Her work aims to advance theories explaining the development of social-moral reasoning and decision-making during childhood and adolescence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also investigates bullying and bystander responses to bullying<strong>,<\/strong> particularly within intergroup contexts, to understand how social and moral factors influence intervention and inaction. Through this line of research, she aims to inform and design policy-oriented, proactive intervention programs that reduce prejudice and discrimination\u2014especially in school settings\u2014and promote equity and social justice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Research Interests:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bullying and bystander responses to bullying in intergroup contexts&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Social cognition and intergroup decision-making in children and adolescents&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prejudice and discrimination toward immigrants and refugees&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Civic engagement in adolescents&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Selected Publications<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f, S.<\/strong> &amp; Ayhan, S. (2025). Promoting Positive Intergroup Emotions Toward Refugees Through Perceived Similarity, Empathy, and Justice Sensitivity. <em>International Journal of Intercultural Relations<\/em>. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijintrel.2024.102127\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijintrel.2024.102127<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ayhan, S., &amp; <strong>G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f, S.<\/strong> (2024). Bystander responses in five\u2010steps: Paving road to prosocial intervention to social exclusion through social\u2010cognition.\u202f<em>British Journal of Developmental Psychology,\u202f42(4),<\/em> 517-523. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/bjdp.12513\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/bjdp.12513<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f, S., <\/strong>Argyri, E.,Y\u00fcksel, A., McGuire, L., Palmer, S., Killen, M. &amp; Rutland, A. (2024). Peer group norms affect adolescents&#8217; bystander judgments and reasoning. <em>Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, , 30(3), 372-390.&nbsp;<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/pac0000731\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/pac0000731<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f, S.<\/strong> &amp; Mulvey, K. L. (2023). Does Negative Media Representation Shape Adolescents\u2019 Discriminatory Tendencies towards Syrian Refugees through Threat Perception and Prejudice?<em> International Journal of Intercultural Relations<\/em>,\u202f<em>95<\/em>, 101807. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijintrel.2023.101807\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijintrel.2023.101807<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f, S., <\/strong>&amp; Mulvey, K. L. (2022). Do adolescents intervene when outgroup members are victimized?: intergroup processes and social-cognitive predictors of bystander responses in bias-based bullying of Syrian refugees in Turkey. <em>Journal of Research on Adolescence. <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/jora.12752\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/jora.12752<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a complete list of publications, please visit my Google Scholar profile: <a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?hl=en&amp;user=bT8T7iMAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?hl=en&amp;user=bT8T7iMAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Se\u00e7il G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015fAssistant Professor, Department of Psychology Education Research Dr. G\u00f6n\u00fclta\u015f\u2019s research focuses on understanding how group processes (e.g., prejudice, discrimination, and threat perception) and social-cognitive mechanisms (e.g., Theory of Mind) shape children\u2019s and adolescents\u2019 attitudes and behaviors in intergroup contexts. Her work aims to advance theories explaining the development of social-moral reasoning and decision-making during [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":14,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"languages":[18],"post_translationss":[],"class_list":["post-5718","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"guten_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"guten_post_layout_landscape_large":false,"guten_post_layout_portrait_large":false,"guten_post_layout_square_large":false,"guten_post_layout_landscape":false,"guten_post_layout_portrait":false,"guten_post_layout_square":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5718"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7735,"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5718\/revisions\/7735"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Flanguages&post=5718"},{"taxonomy":"post_translations","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psy.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_translationss&post=5718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}