Dr Katie Sullivan BSc, PhD, MBPsS

I am a social and political psychology researcher and lecturer in the Psychology and Counselling department at UWTSD, as well as a doctoral supervisor. I'm also the MSc Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination programme manager.

I completed my degree in Counselling Studies and Psychology in 2014, and my PhD in the area of social and political psychology in 2021. I have published a number of journal articles and book chapters on the topics of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, particularly relating to race and gender.

I have been a technical tutor with the Psychology department at UWTSD since 2015 and a lecturer in the department since 2020.

• Member of the British Psychological Society (MBPsS)
• Member of the International Society for Political Psychology (ISPP)

My primary research areas are in social and political psychology, and in particular the use of experimental research methods to examine attitudes. My teaching across all levels reflects this expertise, working with students to: understand the use of online and computer-based research materials at Level Four; designing and carrying out ethical and professional research studies at Level Five; and supervising projects relating to my areas of expertise at Levels Six (undergraduate), Seven (Master’s), and Eight (Doctoral).

In the more traditional teaching formats (e.g., Social Psychology at Level Five, The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination at Level Six, and modules on the MSc Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination at Level Seven) I use my subject knowledge to inform learning and discussion on many of the issues relating to these topic areas.

My PhD research has focused on the impact of implicit and explicit prejudice attitudes and their interaction, relating to real-world topics such as immigration, terrorism, EU Referendum voting behaviour, and attitudes. Over the last four years, I have also been involved with examining cultural attitudes towards gender with the Towards Gender Harmony Project, and how prejudice may impact upon behaviours of professional groups such as teachers.

In addition to my research on prejudice and discrimination attitudes towards immigration, terrorism, and political voting behaviour, I have also been involved in the planning and delivery of workshops and talks relating to inclusivity, asylum-seeking and refugee-status issues, and have been heavily involved in national Black History Month campaigns and race equality campaigns.

Alongside Dr Paul Hutchings I have founded Project ImpEx, a project that looks to carry out research and educate the wider public on issues of the interactions between implicit and explicit prejudice. Please see the Psychology PERCH pages for further details.

Hutchings, P. B., & Sullivan, K. E. (in press). Gender: How stubborn are the stereotypes? The Psychologist, May 2023. BPS.

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Bosson, J., Jurek, P., Besta, T., Olech, M., Vandello, J., Bender, M., … Hutchings, P. B., Sullivan, K. E., … & Zadkowska, M. (2022) Gendered Self-Views Across 62 Countries: A Test of Competing Models. Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Mohamed, N. H., Beckstein, A., Hutchings, P. B., Pang Tze Ping, N., Dawood, S., Sullivan, K. E., Fadilah, R., Yahaya, A., & Villadolid, J. (2022). Cross-cultural Differences in Psychological Health During Covid-19. European Journal of Mental Health. ISSN 1788-7119.

Hutchings, P. B. & Sullivan, K. E. (2021). 'Students are people too': Intersecting challenges in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. In A Beckstein (Ed), The Covid-19 pandemic: A multidisciplinary approach to managing mental health challenges. UMS Press, Sabah, Malaysia, pp. 106-122. ISBN eISBN 978-967-2962-51-1

Sullivan, K. E., & Hutchings, P. B. (2020). Right-Wing Authoritarian and Explicit Prejudice Attitude Responses to the Paris Terror Attacks: A Within-Subjects Analysis. Terrorism and Political Violence. ISSN 1556-1836

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Besta, T., Wlodarczyk, A., Anderson, J., De Lemus, S., Froehlich, L., Dordevic, J., Muller, D., Pacilli, M., Salvati, M., Schindler, S… Hutchings, P. B., Sullivan, K. E… & Zukauskiene, R. (2020). Country-level and Individual-level Predictors of Men's Support for Gender Equality in 42 Countries. European Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 1099-0992

Hutchings, P. B., & Sullivan, K. E. (2019). Prejudice and the Brexit vote: A tangled web. Springer Communication, 5. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-018-0214-5

Sullivan, K. E., & Hutchings, P. B. (2018a, May). Symbolic and realistic threat attitudes toward legal and illegal migration. Paper presented at British Psychological Society Annual Conference. Nottingham, UK

Sullivan, K. E., & Hutchings, P. B. (2018b, July). Prejudice and the Brexit vote. In: Andreouli E (Chair), The Politics of Prejudice and Social Change. Symposium conducted at the meeting of International Society of Political Psychology, San Antonio, Texas.

Hutchings, P. B., & Sullivan, K. E. (2015, May). Opposition to Immigration Raised When Out-group Salience Focuses on Muslims. Conference presentation to the Association for Psychological Science, New York.

Sullivan, K. E., & Hutchings, P. B. (2014, Sept). Differential recognition of ambiguous-race faces linked to levels of implicit and explicit prejudice. Presentation to the British Psychological Society Annual Conference, Canterbury.

Sullivan, K. E. (2014, April). Are you angry because I dislike you or do I dislike you because you are angry? Examining prejudice and emotion. Conference presentation to the British Conference for Undergraduate Research, Nottingham.

Research Grants

• 2022 – Principal Investigator: RIAP research grant. £14,000
• 2020 – Co-applicant: University of Malaysia Sabah. Small research grant £5,700