Professor Mark Van Vugt's research concentrates on the study of group and organzational processes from an evolutionary and social psychological perspective.

He is interested in themes such as the evolution and psychology of leadership, status, power, altruism, cooperation, and intergroup relations. He is also interested in applying insights from social and evolutionary psychology to understand and help to solve real world problems related to leadership and management, environmental conservation and other prosoclal behaviors such as volunteering, charity work, and blood donation, and antisocial behavior.

A prolific author and a regular contributor to national television and radio news, Professor Van Vugt’s has worked with a number of government, profit and non-profit organisations, including the Charity Commission, The US Office for Naval Research, Southampton Football Club, the Department of Transport, English Nature, National Health Service, Rank Xerox, Southern Water, and various city councils in the Netherlands and the UK.

Professor Van Vugt is member of the team that won the prestigious £1.2 million British Academy grant "From Lucy to Language: The Archaeology of the Social Brain." He is also co-author of a text on Applying Social Psychology and is a consulting editor of various journals in social psychology.

Professor Van Vugt is member of the European Association for Experimental Social Psychology (EAESP), the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP), the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), and the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES).