Social Processes

Social Processes

We use a range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to study the social and cognitive processes that shape human actions and evaluations of others.

Group Leader

David Ellis

Dr David Ellis

Lecturer in Computational Social Science
+44 (0)1524 593207

One strand of our work examines the structure and function of factors such as morality, trust, and emotion on social interaction and decision making. A second strand considers the drivers of social perception and, in particular, how social identity, attitudes and categorisations impact our judgement of, and interactions with, others. A final strand examines the impact of nonconscious processes, such as goal striving and cognitive load, on our actions. We continuously seek to address societal challenges within our research, both at the individual and group level. For example, our research on attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities seeks to improve the way in which these individuals are supported in social and health care settings. Our research on trust within high-risk industries seeks to improve the capacity of management to communicate safety-related issues to employees effectively. We also carry out research on cross-cultural sense-making, which seeks to help law enforcement identify ways to build cooperation with those who might otherwise be antagonistic or mistrustful.