Dr R.N.H. de Leeuw (Rebecca)

Dr. Rebecca de Leeuw examines how media can be meaningful and inspire us. She is fascinated by the question how stories, such as the ones told in Disney • Pixar films, can spark emotional growth in children and adolescents. Rebecca also examines how parents can strengthen these effects. In her approach, she integrates knowledge from positive (media) psychology with insights from storytelling.

For one of her studies, Rebecca and her colleagues examined how films, and the film “Inside Out” in particular, can be meaningful for children and adolescents. Findings of this study indicated that films can spark the social intelligence, can be an opportunity to be moved by moral beauty, can lead to novel insights, and can inspire to never give up. Rebecca presented these findings to Pete Docter, the Oscar®-winning director of the film and Chief Creative Officer of the Pixar Animation Studios.