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- I am a Professor of Psychology at UCL (University College London) with research interests in how people conceptualise... moreI am a Professor of Psychology at UCL (University College London) with research interests in how people conceptualise science, various risks and the liveability of cities. I utilise social representations theory in many of my studies and methodologically I have devised the Grid Elaboration Method to elicit people’s conceptualisations. I have developed a form of systematic thematic analysis to analyse this free associative data. I am a mixed methods researcher - using both qualitative and quantitative methods, sometimes in a complementary way, depending on the research question.edit
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The study explores the link between remembered non-verbal sexual communication in the home, current sexual behaviours and feelings of sexual guilt, among a sample of young British men and women. Non-verbal sexual communication... more
The study explores the link between remembered non-verbal sexual communication in the home, current sexual behaviours and feelings of sexual guilt, among a sample of young British men and women. Non-verbal sexual communication encapsulates: openness about nudity in the home; the showing of affection between parents; signs of parental sexual activity and contraceptive use; and intimation of mother's menstruation. One hundred and thirty-seven young adults completed questionnaires measuring remembered parental non-verbal sexual communication, current sexual behaviour and sexual guilt. Higher levels of parental non-verbal sexual communication were found to be linked to: earlier onset of sexual activity, fewer sexual partners and lower feelings of aspects of sexual guilt. The findings are discussed in terms of how to advance this area of study.
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This paper is concerned with how people make meaning of the risks they face. It explores certain assumptions of the risk perception approaches, which dominate the area. It argues that despite changes currently taking place in the field,... more
This paper is concerned with how people make meaning of the risks they face. It explores certain assumptions of the risk perception approaches, which dominate the area. It argues that despite changes currently taking place in the field, such models still focus on static, intrapersonal processes, with many viewing human thinking as analogous to erroneous information processing. In the place of an individual ‘deficit’ focus, the paper proposes a more intersubjective theory of the response to risk. Social representations theory is evaluated and its validity assessed by highlighting empirical work on representations of biotechnological and health risks. The review reveals that the response to risk is a highly social, emotive and symbolic entity. Therefore a theory and methods appropriate to such qualities are proposed, to produce a valid psychology of risk.
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Perception, Methodology, Social Cognition, and 15 moreBiotechnology, Intrapersonal Communication, Risk, Risk Taking, Health, Risk assessment, Medicine, Emotions, Humans, Risk Perception, Personal Construct Theory, Interpersonal Relations, Risk Assessment, Psychology Social, and Emotive
This article delineates the role played by “othering” in the formation of people's identities and in their responses to mass threats. Cultural theory, most notably that of the modernist theorist Edward Said, utilizes the notion of... more
This article delineates the role played by “othering” in the formation of people's identities and in their responses to mass threats. Cultural theory, most notably that of the modernist theorist Edward Said, utilizes the notion of othering to explain Western ways of subordinating certain peoples and thereby constructing superior identities. Drawing on psychoanalytic and social psychological theories, this article demonstrates that the process by which people buttress their own sense of identity by locating undesirable qualities in others is not necessarily culture specific. Such processes lie at the root of identity formation. Keywords: anxiety; core values; cultural theory; identity formation; othering; psychoanalytic theory; scapegoating; “the other”
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COVID-19 has required researchers to adapt methodologies for remote data collection. While virtual interviewing has traditionally received limited attention in the qualitative literature, recent adaptations to the pandemic have prompted... more
COVID-19 has required researchers to adapt methodologies for remote data collection. While virtual interviewing has traditionally received limited attention in the qualitative literature, recent adaptations to the pandemic have prompted increased discussion and adoption. Yet, current discussion has focussed on practical and ethical concerns and retained a tone of compromise, of coping in a crisis. This paper extends the nascent conversations begun prior to the pandemic to consider the wider methodological implications of video-call interviews. Beyond the short-term, practical challenges of the pandemic, these adaptations demonstrate scope for longer-term, beneficial digitalisation of both traditional and emergent interview methods. Updating traditional interview methods digitally has demonstrated how conversion to video interviewing proves beneficial in its own right. Virtual focus-group-based research during COVID-19, for example, accessed marginalised populations and elicited notable rapport and rich data, uniting people in synchronous conversation across many environments. Moreover, emergent interview methods such as the Grid Elaboration Method (a specialised free-associative method) demonstrated further digitalised enhancements, including effective online recruitment with flexible scheduling, virtual interactions with significant rapport, and valuable recording and transcription functions. This paper looks beyond the pandemic to future research contexts where such forms of virtual interviewing may confer unique advantages: supporting researcher and participant populations with mobility challenges; enhancing international research where researcher presence or travel may be problematic. When opportunities for traditional face-to-face methods return, the opportunity for virtual innovation should not be overlooked.
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This textbook offers an excellent introduction to the variety of research methods used within the fields of clinical and health psychology. The book provides a detailed, yet concise, explanation of both qualitative and quantitative... more
This textbook offers an excellent introduction to the variety of research methods used within the fields of clinical and health psychology. The book provides a detailed, yet concise, explanation of both qualitative and quantitative approaches and draws upon case-study examples to illustrate how these can be used in a variety of health-care settings, with special relevance to clinical disorders, disease prevention and health promotion. Research Methods for Clinical and Health Psychology fulfils the demand for a textbook explaining how qualitative and quantitative methods can be used explicitly in a health psychology context. It will be invaluable reading for clinical and health psychology students, trainees and practitioners, as well as those in nursing, medical and other healthcare departments taking an advanced psychology option.
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Abstract This paper reviews the key disaster risk management (DRM) frameworks used for protecting children's wellbeing in disaster settings and identifies a lack of consideration for (1) psychosocial and (2) water, sanitation and... more
Abstract This paper reviews the key disaster risk management (DRM) frameworks used for protecting children's wellbeing in disaster settings and identifies a lack of consideration for (1) psychosocial and (2) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) needs. It also demonstrates that these two domains are meaningfully linked, as access to adequate WASH provision may protect psychosocial wellbeing and promote community resilience. As support in both domains is vitally important to children's wellbeing, these gaps warrant immediate attention. Schools are uniquely situated to support these needs as part of disaster risk management and resilience building. Therefore, we consider the ASEAN Common Framework for Comprehensive School Safety (ACFCSS), which is an adaptation of the Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSS) implemented in schools across the ASEAN region. While the CSS explicitly considers WASH, it only briefly considers psychosocial support; the ACFCCS lacks consideration of both domains. We argue revisions of the ACFCSS should prioritise the inclusion of psychosocial and WASH support and consider the role of schools beyond their capacity as educational institutions. We present an adaptation of ACFCSS with an additional framework pillar to guide this revision. Overall, we advocate for an integrated approach to DRM in schools based on an evidence-based, interdisciplinary perspective. We provide a series of evidence-based recommendations for DRM frameworks to consider, especially for those that intend to safeguard the wellbeing of children.
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Non-adherence to regimes recommended by health practitioners is prevalent in the health and safety area. Even the most effective of interventions does not tend to lead to substantial improvements in adherence. This paper reviews models... more
Non-adherence to regimes recommended by health practitioners is prevalent in the health and safety area. Even the most effective of interventions does not tend to lead to substantial improvements in adherence. This paper reviews models from the health psychology sphere that predict which factors might lead people to practice health-enhancing behaviours. In terms of health messages, the paper evaluates the methods of persuasion found to be most successful. It provides an analysis of a successful intervention, in which a target audience was motivated to adopt a health-enhancing choice. The paper concludes by examining the principles that can be drawn from successful interventions, in terms of changing a target audience's health behaviours. The focus is on those that can be applied to situations in which a health practitioner hopes to convince the patient to adhere to a preventive regime.
Research Interests: Psychology, Dentistry, Fear, Persuasion, Medicine, and 11 moreMotivation, Humans, Psychological Intervention, Patient Compliance, Dental, PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION, Interventions, Guidance and Counseling Intervention Programs, Psychological Models, Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and professional patient relations
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This paper proposes that health promotion may benefit from a social psychological theory that maps the contents and evolution of lay `logic'. Social representations theory forms the focus, since it facilitates entry into people's... more
This paper proposes that health promotion may benefit from a social psychological theory that maps the contents and evolution of lay `logic'. Social representations theory forms the focus, since it facilitates entry into people's meaning systems regarding risks, as well as into the functions served by such meanings. The theory is assessed once the assumptions of the more commonly used, contrasting perspective of risk perception is examined. Cognitive theories of risk perception tend to focus on an ideal of rational information processing and assume that people are averse to harm. They are unified in their centre of attention being the intrapersonal level. Having looked at studies of lay responses to childhood vaccination, diabetes and smoking, the paper demonstrates that such assumptions can be challenged. Social representations theory is summoned as a unifying rubric in which to conduct studies that operate from wholly different assumptions: the history and symbols held dear within particular social networks fashion their representations of the health issues they face. These are difficult to change because they serve an identity protective function, rather than being products of faulty information processing which can be rectified by way of a dose of'reality'. However, at least by mapping the evolution and contents of such representations one can help health promoters in starting with where audiences are located, rather than operating from models of behaviour change that are underpinned by assumptions that have limited validity.
Research Interests: Sociology, Psychology, Social Psychology, Health Promotion, Intrapersonal Communication, and 9 moreHealth Education, Information Processing, Risk Perception, Cognitive Theory, Social Representation, Public health systems and services research, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Health risk, and Social Network
The author examines the specific contribution that social representations research has made to health psychology. In particular, the approach highlights the symbolic, emotive and social aspects of how lay people make meaning of facets of... more
The author examines the specific contribution that social representations research has made to health psychology. In particular, the approach highlights the symbolic, emotive and social aspects of how lay people make meaning of facets of health and illness, and emphasizes the importance of the evolution of these meanings. Empirical work on health and illness is used to cast light on the specific workings of social representations and on the enrichment of the health field offered by this naturalistic perspective. Distinctions are drawn between the social representations approach and other social constructionist approaches in the health field. In addition, the differentiation between social representations and more mainstream approaches to health issues is examined. Primarily, the social representations approach eschews the notion of human thought as analogous to information processing, with the attendant individualist, cognitivist and rationalist assumptions, and recognizes the importance of non-verbal material in the study of the human psyche.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Social Psychology, Anthropology, Reflexivity, and 14 moreTheory, Risk, Modernism, Disasters, Risks, Splitting, Projective Identification, Social risk, Hazards, S, H, M, Social Science, and A
This chapter sets out a way in which an emotion — namely, anxiety — shapes the response to mass crises, such as potential epidemics, threats of terrorism, and influxes of refugees. The sense in which the term ‘anxiety’ is used in this... more
This chapter sets out a way in which an emotion — namely, anxiety — shapes the response to mass crises, such as potential epidemics, threats of terrorism, and influxes of refugees. The sense in which the term ‘anxiety’ is used in this chapter can be defined in relation to fear: fear is said to have a specific object to which it is a reaction, whereas anxiety is defined by the absence of a specific object.1 It often relates to a potential danger. This chapter argues that the anxiety evoked by the threat of mass crisis elicits ‘othering’ or the location of negative aspersions, and often blame, with ‘the other’. The chapter synthesises a number of theories to foster understanding of the exacerbation of ‘othering’ at times of crisis.
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Themata are the antimonies or dyadic oppositions that lie at the root of common sense and shape how we make sense of issues in the social world. This paper showcases and extends understanding of the role played by themata in the social... more
Themata are the antimonies or dyadic oppositions that lie at the root of common sense and shape how we make sense of issues in the social world. This paper showcases and extends understanding of the role played by themata in the social representations literature, with specific reference to their role in structuring public responses to threatening phenomena. To this end the paper reviews empirical research examining how publics engage with a range of contemporary risk issues, namely climate change, earthquakes and emerging infectious diseases (EID). It demonstrates that a core thema, that of self/other, underpins public engagement with these diverse risks. By drawing together insights from the three risks it demonstrates not only that a single thema can drive a diverse set of representational fields but also the consequences of this thema both for a society’s insiders and its outsiders. Primarily, it has the consequence of identity protection and complacency for insiders and potential spoiling of identity for outsiders.
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This paper explores the consequences of the socio-historical exclusion of women, and of young people, from public life. It is based upon an empirical study in which depth-interviews were conducted with 96 Britons, male and female, and of... more
This paper explores the consequences of the socio-historical exclusion of women, and of young people, from public life. It is based upon an empirical study in which depth-interviews were conducted with 96 Britons, male and female, and of a younger and an older generation, concerning their private and public lives. Self-proclaimed ignorance is significantly more likely to be found in the interviews of the women rather than the men, and in those of the younger rather than the older generation. Qualitative analysis reveals that self-proclaimed ignorance is associated with a sense of distance from public affairs. The various manifestations of distance are discussed in terms of exposure to knowledge, the individualistic society's expectations concerning the knowing “I”, the privatized market economy and the effects of modernity itself.
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This article traces the history of free association in psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, and social psychology and builds on these traditions to develop a novel research method for eliciting how people think and feel about social and... more
This article traces the history of free association in psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, and social psychology and builds on these traditions to develop a novel research method for eliciting how people think and feel about social and personal issues. These range from climate change to pandemics, from earthquakes to urban living. The method, termed the grid elaboration method (GEM), is distinctive in tapping the naturalistic thoughts and feelings that people hold in relation to such issues. It provides an instrument that elicits ecologically valid material that minimizes the interference of the investigator's perspective. A further aspect of the method is that it taps chains of association that are often emotive and implicit in nature, in keeping with current trends in psychological research. These facets are elaborated in this article, with reference to an exploration of the history of free association methodologies in psychology. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated using examples drawn from recent empirical work utilizing the GEM in a variety of domains. The method is evaluated, with areas for future exploration elucidated.
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... Examining media visualisations of the Gulf War, Griffin and Lee (19959. Griffin, M. and Lee, J. 1995. Picturing the Gulf War: Constructing an image of war in Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report.. Journalism and Mass... more
... Examining media visualisations of the Gulf War, Griffin and Lee (19959. Griffin, M. and Lee, J. 1995. Picturing the Gulf War: Constructing an image of war in Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report.. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly , 72: 813–25. ...
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Research Interests: Psychology, Anthropology, Communication, Fear, Africa, and 15 moreGlobal Health, Media, Health, Imagination, Medicine, Mass media, Newspapers, Disease Outbreaks, Humans, Newspaper, Great Britain, Public health systems and services research, Representation Politics, attitude to health, and Interviews as topic
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Levels of natural hazard preparedness continue to be low across cultures. Studies on natural hazard preparedness have consistently found that simply providing people with information about risk is not sufficient to change... more
Levels of natural hazard preparedness continue to be low across cultures. Studies on natural hazard preparedness have consistently found that simply providing people with information about risk is not sufficient to change preparedness behaviours. Research in the field of social representations and emergency preparedness indicate that it is a combination of cognitive, emotional, and cultural factors that affect preparedness behaviours. Therefore, understanding how personal, social, and cultural dynamics influence people’s interpretations of risk is essential if one is to intervene effectively in hazard preparedness. The existing natural hazard preparedness literature contains two major shortcomings. Firstly, studies of community emergency preparedness interventions are scarce. Secondly, the majority of these studies are imprecisely described; many lack detailed information regarding the study’s procedures and the content of the interventions. Such work hinders development of the field of natural hazard preparedness: replication of interventions is difficult and publics are subjected to interventions with little empirical support. In order to develop the field of hazard preparedness, a multidisciplinary team of researchers aims to design, conduct and evaluate a rigorous cross-cultural intervention for fire and earthquake preparedness. The present study will explore the different cognitive, emotional, and cultural factors that play a role in emergency preparedness with the goal of improving earthquake and fire emergency preparedness behaviours among lay people.
Keywords: preparedness, natural hazards, intervention, earthquake, fire, community resilience, behaviour change
Keywords: preparedness, natural hazards, intervention, earthquake, fire, community resilience, behaviour change