Kenneth I Mavor
Biographic Data
| ID | 250053 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kenneth I Mavor |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kenneth I |
| FAMILY NAME | Mavor |
| SIGNATURE | MAVOR K I |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of St Andrews |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3160-3889 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 148 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
An Intervention Addressing Impostor Phenomenon in Undergraduate Physics and Astronomy
The experience of the impostor phenomenon, when a person doubts themselves and believes that they are underqualified and do not belong in a position as a result, can be a challenge for undergraduate physics students. In a small-scale interview study, we found that the impostor phenomenon was frequently reported by physics undergraduates. On this basis, we developed an intervention to target the impostor phenomenon. The intervention had three phas…
Discipline-based social identity and organizational identity as predictors of approaches to learning and evaluation of teaching
The present research aimed to tease apart the meaning of the “student” identity in higher education by distinguishing the concepts and affordances of discipline-based social identity and organizational identity. Across three studies we examine discipline-based and organizational social identities’ relations to educational outcomes and evaluations of the student experience. Our first study ( n = 203) examines the relationships between identity, en…
Student Wellbeing in Higher Education
University student populations are often characterised by low levels of subjective wellbeing. To understand student wellbeing from the social perspective, this study aimed to explore the prediction of wellbeing by social factors over and above the effects of stress. A particular focus was placed on the impact of social support from different sources, but also on the effects of social identification with students in one’s academic-discipline and u…
The role of student and customer social identification on university students’ learning approaches and psychological well-being
In an on-line format, the current research measured students’ ( N = 453) social identifications as university students and as university customers to predict their self-reported engagement in deep and surface learning, attitudes toward cheating, intent to continue their studies, and their psychological well-being (e.g., affect, self-esteem). Also measured were students’ perceptions of deep- and surface-learning norms. Overall, students identified…
The imposter phenomenon and its relationship with self-efficacy, perfectionism and happiness in university students
Individuals who experience the imposter phenomenon (IP) have feelings of self-doubt and are concerned that they will be exposed as frauds. Previous research has indicated that IP is associated with anxiety, depression and low self-esteem, and university students are thought to be particularly susceptible to IP. This study investigated the relationship between IP and self-efficacy, maladaptive perfectionism and happiness in university students, an…
A political psychology of the link between populist beliefs and compliance with Covid-19 containment measures
This paper addresses the relationship between populist beliefs and compliance with COVID-19 containment measures. We argue that an understanding of this issue depends upon developing a social/political psychology which addresses the impact of social groups and social relations upon behavior. More specifically we propose that populist beliefs are based on the notion that elite authorities are opposed to the people and hence not to be trusted by th…
Assessing the speed and ease of extracting group and person information from faces
The human face is a key source of social information. In particular, it communicates a target's personal identity and some of their group memberships. Different models of social perception posit distinct stages at which this group-level and person-level information is extracted from the face, with divergent downstream consequences for cognition and behavior. This paper presents four experiments that explore the time-course of extracting group and…
Not just who you are, but who you were before
The current study builds on links between academic social identification and learning behaviours and extends these models by also considering the level of compatibility between the student identity and the pre‐existing self‐concept. This is a crucial extension, in the context of broadening access to higher education and fostering belonging and learning in nontraditional students. Further, where previous work focused on learning behaviours that en…
That's not funny!’ Standing up against disparaging humor
Learning behaviour and learning outcomes
Social Categorization
Group interaction as the crucible of social identity formation
Many of the world’s biggest problems are being tackled through the formation of new groups yet very little research has directly observed the processes by which new groups form to respond to social problems. The current paper draws on seminal research by Lewin (1947) to advance a perspective as to how such identities form through processes of small group interaction. Multilevel structural equation modelling involving 58 small group discussions (w…
Social identity and personality processes
There are ongoing debates both in personality psychology and social psychology on the causes and consequences of personality stability and change. Recent work on social roles suggests that as people change roles (e.g. employee to manager), different experiences and demands are internalised into one's self‐concept shaping identity and personality. In this paper, the emphasis moves beyond ‘roles’ to other group memberships (e.g. ethnicity) in shapi…
Social identities facilitate and encapsulate action-relevant constructs
Three studies explore the recently elaborated social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) and an alternative, the encapsulated model of social identity in collective action (EMSICA). These models both afford a central role to the function of social identities in promoting collective action, through affective reactions to injustice and group efficacy, but in different ways. Combined analyses of three samples ( N = 305) using multigroup stru…
Religion, Prejudice, and Authoritarianism
In research on religiosity and prejudice, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) has been studied alongside variables such as fundamentalism and orthodoxy. Four concerns regarding research on the relationship between RWA and religiosity are identified: (1) the overlap of religiosity and prejudice within the RWA scale; (2) the inflation of relationships by correlating part-whole measures; (3) covariation in the extremes of the construct hiding the poss…
Social psychology of Making Poverty History
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent the first global, tractable effort to combat world poverty and preventable disease. The success of the MDGs, however, depends critically upon the support of the people who do not themselves experience the disadvantage: That is, the people and governments of developed countries. In this paper it is argued that the solution to combating poverty and preventable disease in developing nations lies in c…
Aligning Identities, Emotions, and Beliefs to Create Commitment to Sustainable Social and Political Action
In this article the authors explore the social psychological processes underpinning sustainable commitment to a social or political cause. Drawing on recent developments in the collective action, identity formation, and social norm literatures, they advance a new model to understand sustainable commitment to action. The normative alignment model suggests that one solution to promoting ongoing commitment to collective action lies in crafting a soc…
Transforming “Apathy Into Movement”
This article explores the synergies between recent developments in the social identity of helping, and advantaged groups’ prosocial emotion. The authors review the literature on the potential of guilt, sympathy, and outrage to transform advantaged groups’ apathy into positive action. They place this research into a novel framework by exploring the ways these emotions shape group processes to produce action strategies that emphasize either social …
Social Group and Moral Orientation Factors as Mediators of Religiosity and Multiple Attitude Targets
Although there is a tradition of examining generalized discrimination against multiple targets, recent studies have tended to consider race and homosexuality as separate targets without considering their relationship with each other. Recent studies have also argued for a moral dimension in attitudes to homosexuality, but this has not yet been explicitly modeled as an explanation for patterns of social attitudes. In a questionnaire study of practi…
Why Do People Engage in Collective Action? Revisiting the Role of Perceived Effectiveness
Research has shown limited support for the notion that perceived effectiveness of collective action is a predictor of intentions to engage in collective action. One reason may be that effectiveness has been in terms of whether the action will influence key decision makers. We argue that the effectiveness of collective action might be judged by other criteria, such as whether it influences third parties, builds an oppositional movement, and expres…
Social identities facilitate and encapsulate action-relevant constructs
Three studies explore the recently elaborated social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) and an alternative, the encapsulated model of social identity in collective action (EMSICA). These models both afford a central role to the function of social identities in promoting collective action, through affective reactions to injustice and group efficacy, but in different ways. Combined analyses of three samples ( N = 305) using multigroup stru…
Group interaction as the crucible of social identity formation
Many of the world’s biggest problems are being tackled through the formation of new groups yet very little research has directly observed the processes by which new groups form to respond to social problems. The current paper draws on seminal research by Lewin (1947) to advance a perspective as to how such identities form through processes of small group interaction. Multilevel structural equation modelling involving 58 small group discussions (w…
Social psychology of Making Poverty History
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent the first global, tractable effort to combat world poverty and preventable disease. The success of the MDGs, however, depends critically upon the support of the people who do not themselves experience the disadvantage: That is, the people and governments of developed countries. In this paper it is argued that the solution to combating poverty and preventable disease in developing nations lies in c…
Religion, Prejudice, and Authoritarianism
In research on religiosity and prejudice, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) has been studied alongside variables such as fundamentalism and orthodoxy. Four concerns regarding research on the relationship between RWA and religiosity are identified: (1) the overlap of religiosity and prejudice within the RWA scale; (2) the inflation of relationships by correlating part-whole measures; (3) covariation in the extremes of the construct hiding the poss…
Social Group and Moral Orientation Factors as Mediators of Religiosity and Multiple Attitude Targets
Although there is a tradition of examining generalized discrimination against multiple targets, recent studies have tended to consider race and homosexuality as separate targets without considering their relationship with each other. Recent studies have also argued for a moral dimension in attitudes to homosexuality, but this has not yet been explicitly modeled as an explanation for patterns of social attitudes. In a questionnaire study of practi…
That's not funny!’ Standing up against disparaging humor
Not just who you are, but who you were before
The current study builds on links between academic social identification and learning behaviours and extends these models by also considering the level of compatibility between the student identity and the pre‐existing self‐concept. This is a crucial extension, in the context of broadening access to higher education and fostering belonging and learning in nontraditional students. Further, where previous work focused on learning behaviours that en…
A political psychology of the link between populist beliefs and compliance with Covid-19 containment measures
This paper addresses the relationship between populist beliefs and compliance with COVID-19 containment measures. We argue that an understanding of this issue depends upon developing a social/political psychology which addresses the impact of social groups and social relations upon behavior. More specifically we propose that populist beliefs are based on the notion that elite authorities are opposed to the people and hence not to be trusted by th…
Social identity and personality processes
There are ongoing debates both in personality psychology and social psychology on the causes and consequences of personality stability and change. Recent work on social roles suggests that as people change roles (e.g. employee to manager), different experiences and demands are internalised into one's self‐concept shaping identity and personality. In this paper, the emphasis moves beyond ‘roles’ to other group memberships (e.g. ethnicity) in shapi…
Why Do People Engage in Collective Action? Revisiting the Role of Perceived Effectiveness
Research has shown limited support for the notion that perceived effectiveness of collective action is a predictor of intentions to engage in collective action. One reason may be that effectiveness has been in terms of whether the action will influence key decision makers. We argue that the effectiveness of collective action might be judged by other criteria, such as whether it influences third parties, builds an oppositional movement, and expres…
Social Group and Moral Orientation Factors as Mediators of Religiosity and Multiple Attitude Targets
Although there is a tradition of examining generalized discrimination against multiple targets, recent studies have tended to consider race and homosexuality as separate targets without considering their relationship with each other. Recent studies have also argued for a moral dimension in attitudes to homosexuality, but this has not yet been explicitly modeled as an explanation for patterns of social attitudes. In a questionnaire study of practi…
Aligning Identities, Emotions, and Beliefs to Create Commitment to Sustainable Social and Political Action
In this article the authors explore the social psychological processes underpinning sustainable commitment to a social or political cause. Drawing on recent developments in the collective action, identity formation, and social norm literatures, they advance a new model to understand sustainable commitment to action. The normative alignment model suggests that one solution to promoting ongoing commitment to collective action lies in crafting a soc…
Transforming “Apathy Into Movement”
This article explores the synergies between recent developments in the social identity of helping, and advantaged groups’ prosocial emotion. The authors review the literature on the potential of guilt, sympathy, and outrage to transform advantaged groups’ apathy into positive action. They place this research into a novel framework by exploring the ways these emotions shape group processes to produce action strategies that emphasize either social …
Social psychology of Making Poverty History
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent the first global, tractable effort to combat world poverty and preventable disease. The success of the MDGs, however, depends critically upon the support of the people who do not themselves experience the disadvantage: That is, the people and governments of developed countries. In this paper it is argued that the solution to combating poverty and preventable disease in developing nations lies in c…
Social identities facilitate and encapsulate action-relevant constructs
Three studies explore the recently elaborated social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) and an alternative, the encapsulated model of social identity in collective action (EMSICA). These models both afford a central role to the function of social identities in promoting collective action, through affective reactions to injustice and group efficacy, but in different ways. Combined analyses of three samples ( N = 305) using multigroup stru…
Religion, Prejudice, and Authoritarianism
In research on religiosity and prejudice, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) has been studied alongside variables such as fundamentalism and orthodoxy. Four concerns regarding research on the relationship between RWA and religiosity are identified: (1) the overlap of religiosity and prejudice within the RWA scale; (2) the inflation of relationships by correlating part-whole measures; (3) covariation in the extremes of the construct hiding the poss…
Social identity and personality processes
There are ongoing debates both in personality psychology and social psychology on the causes and consequences of personality stability and change. Recent work on social roles suggests that as people change roles (e.g. employee to manager), different experiences and demands are internalised into one's self‐concept shaping identity and personality. In this paper, the emphasis moves beyond ‘roles’ to other group memberships (e.g. ethnicity) in shapi…
Social Categorization
Group interaction as the crucible of social identity formation
Many of the world’s biggest problems are being tackled through the formation of new groups yet very little research has directly observed the processes by which new groups form to respond to social problems. The current paper draws on seminal research by Lewin (1947) to advance a perspective as to how such identities form through processes of small group interaction. Multilevel structural equation modelling involving 58 small group discussions (w…
Learning behaviour and learning outcomes
Not just who you are, but who you were before
The current study builds on links between academic social identification and learning behaviours and extends these models by also considering the level of compatibility between the student identity and the pre‐existing self‐concept. This is a crucial extension, in the context of broadening access to higher education and fostering belonging and learning in nontraditional students. Further, where previous work focused on learning behaviours that en…
That's not funny!’ Standing up against disparaging humor
Assessing the speed and ease of extracting group and person information from faces
The human face is a key source of social information. In particular, it communicates a target's personal identity and some of their group memberships. Different models of social perception posit distinct stages at which this group-level and person-level information is extracted from the face, with divergent downstream consequences for cognition and behavior. This paper presents four experiments that explore the time-course of extracting group and…
The imposter phenomenon and its relationship with self-efficacy, perfectionism and happiness in university students
Individuals who experience the imposter phenomenon (IP) have feelings of self-doubt and are concerned that they will be exposed as frauds. Previous research has indicated that IP is associated with anxiety, depression and low self-esteem, and university students are thought to be particularly susceptible to IP. This study investigated the relationship between IP and self-efficacy, maladaptive perfectionism and happiness in university students, an…
A political psychology of the link between populist beliefs and compliance with Covid-19 containment measures
This paper addresses the relationship between populist beliefs and compliance with COVID-19 containment measures. We argue that an understanding of this issue depends upon developing a social/political psychology which addresses the impact of social groups and social relations upon behavior. More specifically we propose that populist beliefs are based on the notion that elite authorities are opposed to the people and hence not to be trusted by th…
An Intervention Addressing Impostor Phenomenon in Undergraduate Physics and Astronomy
The experience of the impostor phenomenon, when a person doubts themselves and believes that they are underqualified and do not belong in a position as a result, can be a challenge for undergraduate physics students. In a small-scale interview study, we found that the impostor phenomenon was frequently reported by physics undergraduates. On this basis, we developed an intervention to target the impostor phenomenon. The intervention had three phas…
Discipline-based social identity and organizational identity as predictors of approaches to learning and evaluation of teaching
The present research aimed to tease apart the meaning of the “student” identity in higher education by distinguishing the concepts and affordances of discipline-based social identity and organizational identity. Across three studies we examine discipline-based and organizational social identities’ relations to educational outcomes and evaluations of the student experience. Our first study ( n = 203) examines the relationships between identity, en…
Student Wellbeing in Higher Education
University student populations are often characterised by low levels of subjective wellbeing. To understand student wellbeing from the social perspective, this study aimed to explore the prediction of wellbeing by social factors over and above the effects of stress. A particular focus was placed on the impact of social support from different sources, but also on the effects of social identification with students in one’s academic-discipline and u…
The role of student and customer social identification on university students’ learning approaches and psychological well-being
In an on-line format, the current research measured students’ ( N = 453) social identifications as university students and as university customers to predict their self-reported engagement in deep and surface learning, attitudes toward cheating, intent to continue their studies, and their psychological well-being (e.g., affect, self-esteem). Also measured were students’ perceptions of deep- and surface-learning norms. Overall, students identified…
Psychology (19 works) · Social Psychology (17 works) · Political science (10 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (10 works) · Social group (9 works) · Social identity theory (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Politics (6 works)