Specialist Research Laboratory

Social Action Laboratory

Research Activities

Human social action is inherently cultural. Social action-construed as meaningful behaviour in social context - is a fundamental unit of analysis for social psychology. As such, culture, understood as a network of socially shared meaning, always informs social action, which in turn contributes to the dynamic production and reproduction of culture over time. The overarching question about this process, which we call cultural dynamics, is how concrete individuals' particular activities in interaction with actual and imagined others in specific context can generate, maintain, or transform overtime what may be regarded as a relatively enduring and context general system of meaning, which we often call culture. Our current research focuses on the role of narrative in social psychology of cultural dynamics, examining the effect of story telling and listening on cognition and motivation, as well as health relevant behaviour.

Current Areas of Research

• Cultural dynamics of narratives
• Narrative and social influence
• Social communication and social structuration
• Nationalism and psychological essentialism

Research Staff:

• Associate Professor Yoshihisa Kashima

Research Associates:

• Lucette Ouschan, Jen Whelan, Kim Peters

Lab Facilities:

The Laboratory is well equipped for research in the broad field of social psychology, particularly small group dynamics and social cognition. Specialist facilities include:

• Computerized digital video recording facilities
• Computer laboratory for social cognitive experiments

Participants can contribute to this research.

Funding & Grants:

Current Research Students:

Paul Bain, Lauren Ban, Boyka Bratanova, David Neal, Kim Peters, Jennifer Whelan, Vicki Yeung