The Evolution and Social Interaction Cluster aims to use social, behavioural and evolutionary theory to approach human perception and behaviour, and to understand perception and behaviour within social settings. It unites researchers from two distinct research groups, the Perception, Evolution, and Behaviour group and the Social Research group, along with the Psychology and Communication Technology PaCT Lab specialist laboratory. This page brings together a collection of posts from staff, and students, working in the research cluster.
Read the latest posts about research from the evolution and social interaction group
The Big 5 S2 Ep11: Dr. Amanda Rotella on How We Choose Our Social Partners
On this episode Dr. Amanda Rotella tells us about her research on social competition and how we use social signals to choose our friends, romantic partners, and preferred colleagues. We talk about how and why these judgements are useful and why they’re adaptive in a biological market where we have limited resources and choices. Show…
The Big 5 S2 Ep10: Richard Rawlings on Rural and Urban Dating App Usage by LGBTQ+ Individuals
On this episode we celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month with Richard Rawlings who tells us about his research exploring the ways in which LGBTQ+ people use dating apps to form connections in rural and urban settings. We discuss resilience and how both the city and country offer different challenges and opportunities for queer people to find…
The Big 5 S2 Ep. 9: Carolina Are on Deplatforming, Sexism, and Cancel Culture
Dr. Carolina Are is an Innovation Fellow at the Centre for Digital Citizens. The Centre for Digital Citizens is a joint initiative with colleagues at Newcastle and Northumbria University from computing, design, law, and psychology who study how to make the internet a safer place for everyone. Carolina’s work centres on understanding why certain people…
The Big 5 Season 2 Episode 5: Eating disorder and parapsychology communities online with Claire Murphy-Morgan
On this special Halloween episode, Claire Murphy-Morgan tells us about the links between art and psychology, treating eating disorders remotely, and the online communities that are discussing parapsychology. We talk all things parapsychology: ghosts, near-death experiences, and spooky Wikipedia editors. Show notes: If you’d like to keep up with the Remote Healthcare for Eating Disorders…
The Big 5 Season 2 Episode 2 with Connor Leslie
On this episode Connor Leslie tells us about her work on agression detection from both an evolutionary and forensic psychology perspective. Connor discusses the importance of detecting agression for preventing violence. Look out for those aggressive behaviors and try to avoid them on the International Day of Non-violence! #internationaldayofnonviolence Show notes: To follow Connor’s research…
Tackle loneliness with a little help from your friends
To mark #LonelinessAwarenessWeek one of our PhD students, Alexandra Thompson, tells us about her work on preventing loneliness in older adults
![The Big 5 Episode 12: Ansel Lawson “A lot of [trans and non-binary] people said that the North East was like freedom to them.”](https://northumbriapsy.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/pexels-photo-1317534.jpeg?w=1200&h=900&crop=1)
The Big 5 Episode 12: Ansel Lawson “A lot of [trans and non-binary] people said that the North East was like freedom to them.”
In honor of LGBTQ history month, on this episode Ansel Lawson tells us about their experience as a trans student at Northumbria University and talks about their research on well-being in trans and non-binary people living in the North East, UK. Show notes: Trans, non-binary, or gender diverse and looking for support? Check out Gires…
The Big 5 Episode 12: Dr. Amy Newman “We found that bisexual and queer people were significantly more likely to have experienced harmful sexual behaviors”
In honor of LGBTQ history month, on this episode, Dr. Amy Newman tells us about her research on the prevalence of sexual assualt in gender and relationship diverse couples. We also discuss the need for more inclusive laws and sex education. CW: sexual assault, coercive sex, relationship violence. Show notes: Looking for support after a…
The Big 5 Episode 10: Lee Shepherd “Anger is appropriate and legitimate when someone has dehumanized you through sexual objectification” (Funded PhD opportunity)
In this episode, Dr. Lee Shepherd tells us about his work on emotions and sexual objectification. He discusses how it feels to be objectified and why it’s so important to study this issue to prevent objectification from occuring and to help support victims. We also discuss a funded PhD opportunity to study the causes and…
Funded PhD Opportunity: “Get offline and back in the kitchen” Understanding online misogyny’s causes and consequences
In this blog post we discuss the dangers of online misogyny. We propose a PhD research project examining the experience of online misogyny and understanding who perpetrates online misogyny.
Understanding the harms of hate crime
This week is Hate Crime Awareness Week. To mark the week, Dr Jenny Paterson and Prof Mark Walters tell us about the impact of hate crime and how their work has informed policy and practice linked to hate crime prevention
Pseudoscience is taking over social media – and putting us all at risk
Dr Santosh Vijaykumar is a senior lecturer in the psychology department. In this blog he talks about the risks of misinformation online and possible solutions.
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Northumbria University Psychology Department 