Social & Cultural Psychology
Critical Research in Social Psychology (CRISP) group
The CRISP group involves academic and research staff and postgraduate students from Psychology and other social science departments.
Social & Cultural Psychology research focuses on identity and discourse in social and cultural contexts, investigating beliefs, practices, representations and decision-making in everyday situations.
Research focus
- Youth, consumption and identity
- Gender relations and young people’s alcohol consumption
- Organizational psychology and the management of risk
- Attitude-behaviour relations
- Behavioural and mental habits
- Emotion regulation
- Economic and environmental psychology
- Personal relationships in cyberspace
- Siblings and subjectivities
- Identities and education
- Social and organizational identity formation
- Inter- and intra-group processes
- Personal and professional transitions
Recent research projects include studies on music festivals and free parties as sites of ‘managed’ and ‘unmanaged’ consumption; young people's uses of alcohol; club cultures as a site for social and political participation; and forms of identity in cyberspace relationships.
Other current projects include a study of simulations of personal carbon trading schemes and psychological aspects of the credit crunch, and interventions to promote ecologically sustainable behaviours.
Our staff
- Prof Christine Griffin
- Dr Jeff Gavin
- Prof Alan Lewis
- Dr Helen Lucey
- Dr Laura Smith
- Prof Bas Verplanken
- Dr Andrew Weyman
We also have a thriving postgraduate community exploring areas such as:
- Social drinking practices amongst working class and middle class young women
- Masculinity and dance
- The sexualisation of culture
- Self-regulation in consumer behaviour and health
- Magic mushroom use
- The construction of sexual identity amongst lesbian-identified women
- Online support for stigmatised health and lifestyle practices
- The role of the internet in identity construction (or cyber-identities)
- Psychic and social constructions of ME in families
