Nonverbal coordination increases with lie difficulty

The Times and the New Scientist have recently published articles about a research paper entitled 'A liar and a copycat', co-authored by Professor John Dixon of the Open University School of Psychology and Counselling. In this paper, the authors demonstrate in two experiments that lying affects the interactional dynamics and non-verbal behaviour between two people.…

Stitches and stories: a different kind of research impact

Academic researchers want their research findings to have an effect on the social world: this is referred to as 'impact'. A short film records an example from the work of academics in the School of Psychology and Counselling, and the School of Arts and Humanities. In 2018 Prof. John Dixon led the Belfast Mobility Project,…

Introducing the European Journal of Social Psychology (EJSP)

  We continue to introduce journals on which the School's academics have editorial roles.  Professor John Dixon and Dr Eleni Andreouli are both Associate Editors of the European Journal of Social Psychology. As members of the Editorial Board, John Dixon and Eleni Andreouli oversee the review and publication process of papers submitted to the journal. The…

With us or against us? New research directions

The Culture and Social Psychology group met online last week to discuss new research by two of its members. Karen Hagan presented her ongoing work on the ways that people assert dominance in discourse, including the practices that are commonly labelled as bullying. To explore this further, the group looked at a piece of transcript…

When the walls come tumbling down? OU psychologists are exploring how to dismantle interface barriers between Protestant and Catholic communities in Belfast

In a recent article, Professor John Dixon of the School of Psychology and Counselling at the Open University, and collaborators, have addressed the issue of the removal of interface barriers in Northern Ireland. They have sought to evidence some of the social and psychological factors that may predict resistance to interface barrier removal and thus…