Social Psychology Section

The award is given in recognition of a distinguished contribution to research in social psychology over the duration of one’s career.

Typically, nominees will have had a sustained career in social psychology that has resulted in a body of scholarship that has led to a significant change in understanding of a social psychological phenomenon.

Recipients may be of any nationality but must currently be working in a UK institution at the time of nomination. The award is made bi-annually. 

Rules for bi-annual awards:

• Nominations should be made by Section Members only; although, nominees do not need to be Section members.
• The nominee must be working at a UK institution at the time of nomination.
• Nominations should be accompanied by a brief supporting statement (approx. 500 words maximum) outlining the significance of the nominee’s contribution.
• Previous recipients of the award are not eligible for nomination and neither are self-nominators.
• The award is made biannually (next award in 2024).
• The Section Committee reserves the right not to make an award in any given year if it judges this to be appropriate.

The nominee will be judged on meeting the following:

• Outstanding theoretical/empirical contributions;
• Outstanding impact to the discipline;
• Outstanding impact also shown outside the discipline (e.g., policy, welfare, the general public, school);
• Citizenship within the discipline (e.g., mentoring, supervision, contributions to BPS etc.).

The Award winner

• will be invited to the 2024 SPS Conference to receive an award trophy
• will receive one day complimentary 2024 Conference registration, alongside UK travel expenses and one night accommodation

How to apply

All nominations must be made online.

Submit a nomination

Nominations will close at midnight on Monday 13 May 2024.

Judging process

Awards will be judged by a panel within the Social Psychology Section Committee.

The award is given in recognition of outstanding research in social psychology by an early-career scholar and is determined by the submission of a single published paper where the nominee has led that piece of research (e.g., first author) and a supporting nomination statement.

Self-nominations are accepted for this award.

This award is made annually.

Criteria

• Early Career is defined to scholars awarded their doctorate within 5 years of successful completion of the viva voce examination and any required corrections. We encourage nominations to reflect the diversity of social psychology including under-represented groups and will consider periods of leave (e.g., parental leave) in our consideration of eligibility.
• Nominations should be accompanied by a supporting statement outlining the significance of the nominee’s contribution to research and associated activity more broadly as well as in the submitted paper.. This may be from any individual who is able to comment on the contribution of the nominee, such as a supervisor, colleague, or External Examiner of their Ph.D. Self-nominations are also welcome. 
• Nominators must themselves be Section members, although nominees do not need to be Section members (unless they are self-nominating).
• Nominators should seek the consent of the nominee before nomination (if not a self-nomination)
• Papers in press and published online in advance of final publication are counted as published for the purpose of the award (pre-prints will not be considered). The only criteria are that the work has been conducted during the PhD itself, or within 5 years of the nominee receiving their doctorate.
• Previous recipients of the award are not eligible for nomination.
• Recipients may be of any nationality but must have studied for their Ph.D or currently be working in a UK institution. 

Guidance for nominations

You will need the following information:

Nominee (self-nominations are accepted):

• Name (and Title)
• Organisation/affiliation
• BPS membership number (if applicable)
• Contact email address

Nominator (if not a self-nomination):

• Name (and Title)
• Organisation/affiliation
• BPS membership number (if applicable)

A supporting statement outlining the significance of the nominee’s contribution to research more broadly as well as in the submitted paper.

The paper

This should be a typeset copy of the published paper (in PDF format).  If a typeset copy (i.e. the final published version or page proofs) is not available, then the nominee should include notification of the article’s acceptance with the manuscript in a word or combined PDF file.

How to apply

Submit a nomination now

The extended award deadline is 17:00 on Monday 13 May 2024.

Judging process

The nominee will be judged based on the chosen paper and  a combination of the following additional criteria:

• Outstanding theoretical/empirical contributions by the candidate (for career stage)
•  Outstanding impact within the discipline (commensurate with career stage).
• Outstanding impact shown outside the discipline (e.g., policy, welfare, the general public, school) (commensurate with  career stage)

Please note: nominees do not need to meet all criteria.

The award will be judged by the Section Committee. Committee members will declare any conflict of interests prior to participating in the decision making process and those with conflicts will be excluded from voting The Committee’s decision is final.

The Section Committee reserves the right not to make an award in any given year if it judges this to be appropriate.

The Award winner

• will receive a prize and be invited to the 2024 Section Conference to receive the prize
• will receive one day complimentary registration, alongside UK travel expenses and one night accommodation for an in-person conference.

The award is given in recognition of outstanding research in social psychology by a mid-career scholar. Indicators of outstanding research might include: contribution to theory development, methodological innovation, and/or contribution to society (e.g., policy or practice).

Recipients may be of any nationality but must be working in a UK institution at the time of nomination. Mid-Career is defined loosely and might typically apply to scholars awarded their doctorate between 5 and 20 years ago. Self-nominations are accepted for this award.

The award is made bi-annually.

Rules for bi-annual awards

• Nominations should be made by Section Members only; although, nominees do not need to be Section members. Section Members can submit recommendations to Committee Members to consider. 
• Nominations should be accompanied by a brief supporting statement (approx. 500 words maximum) outlining the significance of the nominee’s contribution.
• Nominators should seek the consent of the nominee before nomination (if not a self-nomination)
• Previous recipients of the award are not eligible for nomination.
• The award is made biannually (next award 2023).
• Recipients may be of any nationality but must have studied for their Ph.D or currently be working in a UK institution.
• The Section Committee reserves the right not to make an award in any given year if it judges this to be appropriate.

Guidance for nominations

You will need the following information:

Nominee (self-nominations are accepted):

• Name (and Title)
• Organisation/affiliation
• BPS membership number (if applicable)
• Contact email address
• Nominator (if not a self-nomination)
• Name (and Title)
• Organisation/affiliation
• BPS membership number (if applicable)

A supporting statement outlining the significance of the nominee’s contribution to research more broadly

Judging process

The nominee will be judged on meeting the following:

• Outstanding theoretical/empirical contributions by the candidate (for career stage)
• Candidate having an outstanding impact to the discipline (commensurate with career stage).
• Outstanding impact also is shown outside the discipline (e.g., policy, welfare, the general public, school) (commensurate with career stage)

The award will be judged by the Section Committee. Committee members must declare any conflict of interests prior to participating in the decision making process. Any committee members with conflicts will be excluded from voting.  The Committee’s decision is final.

The Section Committee reserves the right not to make an award in any given year if it judges this to be appropriate.

How to apply

Submit a nomination here

The extended award deadline is 17:00 on Monday 19 June 2023.

The Award winner

• will receive a prize and be invited to give a talk at the 2023 Section conference
• will receive one day complimentary registration, alongside travel and one night accommodation

Distinguished Contribution Award

2020: Professor Sonia Livingstone

2018: Prof Constantine Sedikides

2016: Prof Rupert Brown

2014: Professor Catherine Campbell 

2012: Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell 

2010: Professor Michael Billig

Early Career Award (PhD Award)

2021: Dr Paul Hanel

2020: Dr Julie Van de Vyver

2019: Dr Nils Reimer

2018: Dr Amanda Williams

2017: Non awarded

2016: Non awarded

2015: Non awarded

2014: Dr Shelley McKeown-Jones

2013: Dr Steve Kirkwood

2012: Dr Annelies Vredeveldt 

2011: Dr David Novelli

Mid-Career Award

2021: Prof Michelle Ryan

2019: Prof John Drury

2017: Dr Tim Wildschut

2015: Professor David De Cremer 

2013: Professor Richard Crisp 

2011: Professor Liz Stokoe

Principal Investigator: Mhairi Bowe

University: Nottingham Trent University 

Title of project: Whose history is it anyway? An experimental exploration of the impact of nostalgia contents and national identity threat on political preferences

Principal Investigator: Anastasia Rousaki

University: Nottingham Trent University

Title of project: Adolescent sexting and consent; a discursive approach.

Principal Investigator: Melissa Pavetich

University: University of Greenwich 

Title of project: Socio-Political Attitudes between Right- and Left-Wing Partisans

Principal Investigator: Moon Halder

University: Nottingham Trent University 

Title of project: The impact of COVID on the social skills of children: A Qualitative study

Principal Investigator: Madeleine Pownall

University: University of Leeds

Title of project: The effects of women’s performance motivation on susceptibility to the ‘baby brain’ stereotype in pregnancy

Principal Investigator: Yasemin Acar

University: University of Dundee

Title of project: Resistance from generation to generation: The case of Saturday Mothers in Istanbul. 

Principal Investigator: Meredith Schertzinger

University: University of St. Andrews

Title of project: Exploring the Power of Group Identity and Communication on Psychological Need Fulfilment

Principal Investigator: Bogdana Huma

University: York St John University

Title of project: 'Unresponded' persuasian in broadcast adversarial political debates 

Principal Investigator: Clifford Stevenson

University: Nottingham Trent University

Title of project: Exploring Financial Distress and Suicidal Behaviour During COVID-19

Nihan Albayrak-Aydemir is a postdoctoral researcher at the Open University and a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Her research examines social identity dynamics and intergroup relations underlying prosocial attitudes and behaviours. She usually prefers to study these topics using comparative designs in the contexts of migration and academia.

She is also interested in the conceptualisation and contextualisation of prosocial behaviour in social psychology and is working towards building a theoretical framework that offers a more nuanced understanding of this concept.

In her second line of research, she studies meta-science and looks at the ways in which intergroup power dynamics as well as research and teaching practices influence the production of scientific knowledge.

She has published empirical papers in several outlets, including the British Journal of Psychology, PLoS ONE, and Nature Human Behaviour, and received funding from several organisations, including the British Psychological Society, the European Association of Social Psychology, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

She has been elected in 2022 to serve as a Social Psychology Section Committee Member for three years. She will be working on the section’s programme of events.

You can follow her on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn, or learn more about her on her website.

Bio to follow.

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Dr. Jaysan Charlesford is an Assistant Professor at Plymouth University.

He is currently working on Social Media and Communicartions for the BPS Social Psychology Section.

Previously, Dr. Charlesford held two postdoctoral researcher positions: one at the University of Bristol examining the effects of classroom diversity and the second at Plymouth University exploring the gradient of local oral health inequalities.

Dr. Charlesford’s primary research interests are in prejudice and prejudice-reduction. Presently, he is considering these topics through the lens of intergroup contact theory and intergroup climate.

Specifically, he is exploring the differential effects of individuals’ perceptions of their personal contact with members of different groups and their perceptions of how ingroup (“us”) and outgroup (“them”) typically interact in society.

His wider research interests include intergroup relations more generally, including the sociopolitical antecedents of prejudice (e.g., political identity and ideology), institutional inequality, and the effects of diversity in various organisations.

You can learn more about his research on his university profile page.

Sadvansha Munshi is a PhD candidate in social psychology with an interest in the use of qualitative research methods for Open Science.

For her doctoral research, she is analysing interactional exchanges between the participants and the experimenter in a cognitive psychology experiment.

Her research aims to open an alternative way of conducting radically Open Science by making the experiment itself available for analysis and inspection.

It is anticipated that the findings from this research will be used to develop training resources aimed at helping researchers to learn about how experiments are conducted.

Sadvansha joined as a Committee Member for the Social Psychology Section in 2022, and works on Social Media and Communications.

You can follow her on Twitter (@Sadvansha).

Dr Mioara Cristea is an Associate Professor of Social Psychology at Heriot-Watt University.

Mioara’s research focuses on conspiracy beliefs and collective actions, far-right narratives and group polarization, and social norms and behavioural change. Mioara became SPS Committee Member in 2022 and is currently working on the SPS Monthly Newsletter.

Mioara has published in journals such as Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Social and Political Psychology, Journal of Social and Cross-cultural Psychogy, and Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology.

Mioara is a member of the Centre for Applied Behavioural Sciences at Heriot-Watt University and an associate member of the Research Lab on Social Psychology and Interdisciplinary studies “Adrian Neculau” at the University of Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Iasi, Romania).

Her recent work has explored trust in government, mistrust in science, conspiracy beliefs, and prosocial behaviours during COVID-19.

You can follow Mhairi on Twitter (@MioCristea) and Google Scholar or learn more about her research on her university profile  and lab group pages.

Alexander Hunt is a PhD candidate based at Heriot-Watt University’s Centre of Applied Behavioral Sciences.

For his research, Alexander uses discursive and rhetorical approaches to social psychology to analyse political discourse and ideology.

Alexander’s PhD project explores parliamentary debates where politicians discussed the possibility of a second referendum on the United Kingdom’s status as a member of the European Union.

By exploring these debates, Alexander seeks to highlight how political speakers align their positions with norms of democracy to reduce the implication that their positions are motivated by party interest. 

Alexander joined the Social Psychology Section as the postgraduate representative in 2022.

You can follow Alexander on Twitter (@Alex_Hunt1995).

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• Alerting members to opportunities for contributing to policy consultation calls issued by UK government departments. 
• Discounted registration for the Section’s Annual Conference. 
• Free registration at Section-sponsored workshops. 
• News and updates via the Section’s e-mail list. 20% discount on purchases from the Cambridge University Press online store. 
• Responding to consultation documents and/or initiatives relevant to the development of social psychology (for example, the ESRC Psychology Benchmarking Exercise and Nomination of REF Panel Members). 
• Social Psychological Review, the Section’s peer-reviewed periodical, which is published twice a year and free electronic access to back issues via the Society’s online shop.
• The opportunity to bid for research funding under the Section’s pump-priming scheme. 

The Section has also established the following awards: 

1. The Award for Distinguished Contribution to Social Psychology
2. The Early Career (PhD) Award
3. The Mid-Career Award

The Social Psychology Section uses its membership announcement email list to inform its members of activities and initiatives that are relevant to their interests and to make requests for engagement on topical issues. 

By becoming a member of the Section you are automatically added to the announcement list.

To receive these emails you will need to:

1. become a member of the Social Psychology Section
2. opt into receiving email communication and provide a working email address

These preferences can be updated by logging into your member portal.

If you have any queries, please contact Member Network Services.

To assist us in responding to your query please make sure to include your membership number and quote 'Social Psychology Section announcement email' in the subject line.

The Social Psychology Section relies on a wide range of people getting involved, and the work of the Section is largely achieved through the dedication of unpaid volunteers.

Our volunteers come from a wide range of different backgrounds, whether they be practitioners or academics, or full members or students members, and together form an open and inclusive community.