Professor of Social Psychology
PROFESSOR CLIFFORD STEVENSON
Professor Stevenson leads the research group. The first strand of his research uses the Applied Social Identity Approach to investigate how sharing a group identity enables members of marginalised communities to deal with adversity. It also examines how prejudice and discrimination serves to erode this resilience and how stigma impedes and deters marginalised groups from accessing support services.
In a unique application of this approach, Clifford now leads an interdisciplinary programme of research into how local communities deal with population shifts and the stresses of intergroup contact. His work examines how community support can facilitate incomers’ successful integration into new neighbourhoods and how community identity can help existing residents cope with the challenges of an influx of different groups.
A second research strand investigates the group dynamics of political engagement. It explores how crowd behaviour reflects, enacts and transforms political identities as well as how different types of political identity serve to shape group members’ perception, decision-making and everyday interactions. It also investigates how real and imagined dialogue between groups can shape intergroup relations.
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Email: clifford.stevenson@ntu.ac.uk
Twitter: @DrCliffordSteve