John’s research focuses on social psychological aspects of behaviour change, and how this is informed by group dynamics and perceptions of peer behaviour.
He has been extensively involved in the development of the social norms approach in the UK, which aims to bring about positive change through challenging misconceptions and negative stereotypes. John is particularly interested in applying this research to areas that involve risk-based decision making.
John also works with colleagues from the Department of Computing on several aspects of socio-technical systems. This includes exploring how social psychology research may be used to better understand the role of human factors in cybercrime, hacktivism and online social protest; as well as how systems may be designed to address the potential psychological factors associated with excessive use of digital technologies (i.e. digital addiction).
John has a range of media experience, including local radio interviews and articles for The Conversation.