I moved to Sussex in July 2012. Before moving back to Sussex, I worked at the University of Sheffield (2000-2012). I have also worked at the University of Hertfordshire (1988-1995) and University of Nottingham (1980-1985). I worked at Sussex twice before (1985-1988; 1995-2000).

I received my first degree from UCL (BSc 1st class), where I also studied for my PhD (on the social psychology of shyness) under the supervision of Rob Farr. I was awarded my PhD in 1992 (from the LSE).

I am a social psychologist and was an HCPC registered Health Psychologist.

I was elected as a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) in 2020. I am an Associate Fellow of the BPS.

Community and Business
I investigate how we can encourage people to engage with more open minds to information they'd prefer to reject (e.g., about their health behaviour). The technique we use to reduce defensive resistance to unwelcome information is called self-affirmation (induced, for example, by thinking about one's important personal values, strengths or relationships) .

For more on self-affirmation, including my research, see the Self-Affirmation Research Group pages (I am third from right in the banner photo.)

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/psychology/sarg/

More broadly, my research centres on how people cope with information and events that threaten the self.