Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology are concerned with human difference and its consequences in different societies. A basic feature of human interaction is the tendency to classify; people assess their own position and that of others in terms of:

• status,
• race,
• class,
• gender,
• religion, or
• level of development

and they form social relationships according to these classifications. In CA/DS we study the relations people form using these classifications and how they change in the course of time.

Research website Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology

The Institute of Education and Child Studies has three research programmes:

1. Attachments and their cognitive representations are the subjects of research in the programme 'Attachment across the life span'.
2. The study of learning disorders aims to contribute to the improvement of clinical services for troubled children and adolescents.
3. Research into the learning process focuses on how it is that students learn (or fail to) learn, individual differences in children’s learning, preparing teachers to facilitate learning in different contexts and for different students. 

Research website Education and Child Studies

The Institute of Political Science is ambitious in its aim to provide methodologically rigorous research that has a firm basis in state-of-the-art theorizing. Its research focuses primarily on the design, working and implications of political institutions at a national and international level.

Research website Political Science

The study of human cognition and behaviour lies at the heart of psychology as a scientific discipline. Research at Leiden University’s psychology institute focuses on the ways in which human cognition and behaviour are motivated. Researchers examine how these are influenced by personal and social goals, physical factors and action repertoires. What we think and do is influenced by what we want and feel. Research and teaching at the institute are aimed at developing this theoretical orientation as well as showing how it can be used to help us lead better lives.

Research website Psychology