Social Psychology
Research in social psychology covers a range of topics and approaches, although there is also a high degree of interplay between themes and collaboration between individual researchers.
Researchers in this area use diverse concepts and different levels of analysis in order to understand and predict behaviour. These include research on attitudes and values, emotion and social identities, interpersonal relationships (especially in family settings). In collaboration with researchers in CUBRIC we also undertake research on social cognitive neuroscience, which examines social phenomena and processes, with an emphasis on social perception and the social functions of emotions, using cognitive neuroscience research tools such as neuroimaging and neuropsychology.
Research Areas
Research on attitudes and values examines both fundamental theoretical issues, such as their content (e.g., affective versus cognitive), structure (e.g., ambivalent versus polarized), and assessment (e.g., implicit versus explicit), and applied issues, such as prejudice and attitudes to the environment.
Research on emotions and social identity focuses on the role of emotions and social identities in promoting and preventing psychological wellbeing and interpersonal and intergroup trust and cooperation.