Edinburgh Napier University

We are a diverse group of researchers with backgrounds in many different areas of psychology (e.g., language, cognitive), but all motivated by applying social psychology to political, social and organisational contexts employing a wide range of methods (e.g., lab experiments, multi-national surveys, interviews and focus group studies). One strand of our research looks at how we can understand contemporary social and political issues through the psychology of groups. Dr Mirona Gheorghiu’s research on group status, anti-immigration attitudes and morality, and Dr Barbara Piotrowska’s work on the effects of stereotypes and dyslexia in job selection processes and teachers’ judgements of dyslexia risk amongst primary school children are two examples of research in this area. A second strand applies social psychological theories to organisational and community contexts. Relevant here is Dr Ethan Shapiro’s research on interactions during clinical activities (e.g., handovers) and professional identity development in transition from being a student to clinical practice. From a critical psychology perspective, Dr Bridget Hannah is interested in professional identity and ethics. As a former community paediatric speech and language therapist, Dr Elli Drake has developed an interest in questions of how 'need' and 'intervention' are constructed, and how this reflects and reinforces broader societal structures. A third strand focusses on inter-personal processes such as gaslighting, social perception and the evolution of cooperation as illustrated by Dr Michael Stirrat’s research. Throughout our research we have successfully used both quantitative (e.g., SEM, multi-level regression analysis) and qualitative research methods (e.g., conversation analysis, discourse analysis) to answer our questions.