Dr Louisa Pavey

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Louisa Pavey
About
Teaching and learning
Research

About

I joined Kingston University after completing my PhD and postdoctoral research at the University of Sussex with a specialism in social and health psychology. My broad research interests are in health behaviour change, message framing, and motivational responses to health risk information. In particular, I focus on implicit cognitive processes, message framing, choice and autonomy, reactance, planning and impulsivity. Interventions focus on behaviour change in areas such as diet, alcohol consumption, and exercise. I am a member of the Clinical and Applied Behavioural Research Group in the Department of Psychology.

I teach Behavioural Science, Business Psychology, Health Psychology, Positive Psychology, Research Methods, and Social Psychology at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. I am currently course director for the MSc Behavioural Decision Science and BSc Business Psychology courses. 

Academic responsibilities

Associate Professor

Qualifications

  • DPhil Psychology (ESRC +3 competition funded), University of Sussex, 2008
  • MRes Psychological Methods (Distinction), University of Sussex, 2005
  • BA (Hons) Social Psychology (First Class), University of Sussex, 2003
  • PGCLTE Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Kingston University London, 2009

Teaching and learning

I was appointed as course director for the Behavioural Decision Science MSc in 2017. This course applies psychological insights into human behaviour to explain how, when, and why people make decisions. Based in the Psychology Department, the course explores theory and research in behavioural decision science, and examines the application of psychology, behavioural science, and behavioural economics to policy, intervention, and behaviour change in areas such as health, finance, sustainability, and consumer behaviour. The course attracts prospective students from a wide range of professional backgrounds. I lead core modules on the course, provide research-informed teaching, and support a wide range of internal and external placement opportunities.

I was appointed as course director for the Business Psychology BSc in 2020. This degree is run jointly by the Department of Psychology and Kingston Business School, and applies the insights offered by psychology to organisational and business contexts. The degree combines business and psychological theory, and enables students to understand the effect of cognitive and social processes on business behaviour and decision making across an organisation.

Please contact me if you would like to find out more about the MSc Behavioural Decision Science or BSc Business Psychology courses. 

Undergraduate courses taught

Postgraduate courses taught

Research

I completed my PhD and postdoctoral research at the University of Sussex. My ESRC funded PhD examined the role of autonomy in health communication and health behaviour change, and my postdoctoral research work applied Self-determination Theory to the promotion of prosocial behaviours. Since joining Kingston University, my research has examined the role of reactance, temporal framing, impulsivity, prescriptive vs. proscriptive messaging, and implementation intentions in health behaviour change, exploring both conscious and nonconscious processes. My broad research interests are in behaviour change, message framing, and motivational responses to persuasion, and I supervise PhD students in these areas. I am a member of the Clinical and Applied Behavioural Research Group in the Department of Psychology.

Please contact me if you are interested in applying for a PhD in the areas of health psychology or behavioural science.  

Areas of specialism

  • Health Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Communication and Persuasion
  • Behaviour Change
  • Message Framing

Scholarly affiliations

  • British Psychological Association
  • European Health Psychology Society
  • European Association of Social Psychology
  • Behavioural Science and Public Health Network

Research student supervision

Main supervision

Other supervision

Publications

Jump to: Article | Conference or Workshop Item
Number of items: 32.

Article

Pavey, Louisa, Churchill, Sue and Sparks, Paul (2022) Perceived legitimacy can moderate the effect of proscriptive versus prescriptive injunctions on intentions to comply with UK government COVID‐19 guidelines and reactance. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, ISSN (print) 0021-9029 (Epub Ahead of Print)

Pavey, Louisa, Churchill, Susan and Sparks, Paul (2021) Proscriptive injunctions can elicit greater reactance and lower legitimacy perceptions than prescriptive injunctions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, ISSN (print) 0146-1672 (Epub Ahead of Print)

Churchill, Susan, Pavey, Louisa and Sparks, Paul (2019) The impact of autonomy-framed and control-framed implementation intentions on snacking behaviour : the moderating effect of eating self-efficacy. Applied Psychology : Health and Well-Being, 11(1), pp. 42-58. ISSN (print) 1758-0846

Pavey, L, Sparks, P and Churchill, S (2018) Proscriptive vs. prescriptive health recommendations to drink alcohol within recommended limits : effects on moral norms, reactance, attitudes, intentions, and behaviour change. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 53(3), pp. 344-349. ISSN (print) 0735-0414

Donaldson-Feilder, Emma, Lewis, Rachel, Pavey, Louisa, Jones, Bethan, Green, Melanie and Webster, Angela (2017) Perceived barriers and facilitators of exercise and healthy dietary choices : a study of employees and managers within a large transport organisation. Health Education Journal, 76(6), pp. 661-675. ISSN (print) 0017-8969

Pavey, Louisa and Churchill, Sue (2017) Impulsivity and temporal frame : reducing frequency of snacking by highlighting immediate health benefits. Eating Behaviors, 26, pp. 1-5. ISSN (print) 1471-0153

Vandrevala, Tushna, Pavey, Louisa, Chelidoni, Olga, Chang, Nai-Feng, Creagh-Brown, Ben and Cox, Anna (2017) Psychological rumination and recovery from work in Intensive Care Professionals : associations with stress, burnout, depression, and health. Journal of Intensive Care, 5(16), ISSN (online) 2052-0492

Churchill, Susan, Pavey, Louisa, Jessop, Donna and Sparks, Paul (2016) Persuading people to drink less alcohol : the role of message framing, temporal focus and autonomy. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 51(6), pp. 727-733. ISSN (print) 0735-0414

Case, Philippa, Sparks, Paul and Pavey, Louisa (2016) Identity appropriateness and the structure of the theory of planned behaviour. British Journal of Social Psychology, 55(1), pp. 109-125. ISSN (print) 0144-6665

Churchill, Susan, Good, Anna and Pavey, Louisa (2014) Promoting the avoidance of high-calorie snacks : the role of temporal message framing and eating self-efficacy. Appetite, 80, pp. 131-136. ISSN (print) 0195-6663

Pavey, L. and Churchill, S. (2014) Promoting the avoidance of high-calorie snacks: priming autonomy moderates message framing effects. PloS One, 9(7), e103892. ISSN (online) 1932-6203

Sparks, P, Hinds, J, Curnock, S and Pavey, L (2014) Connectedness and its consequences: a study of relationships with the natural environment. Jounal of Applied Social Psychology, 44(3), pp. 166-174. ISSN (print) 0021-9029

Churchill, Sue and Pavey, Louisa (2013) Promoting fruit and vegetable consumption: the role of message framing and autonomy. British Journal of Health Psychology, 18(3), pp. 610-622. ISSN (print) 1359-107X

Pavey, L., Greitemeyer, T. and Sparks, P. (2012) “I help because I want to, not because you tell me to”: Empathy increases autonomously motivated helping. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(5), pp. 681-689. ISSN (print) 0146-1672

Pavey, L. and Sparks, P. (2012) Autonomy and defensiveness: experimentally increasing adaptive responses to health-risk information via priming and self-affirmation. Psychology & Health, 27(3), pp. 259-276. ISSN (print) 0887-0446

Pavey, Louisa, Greitemeyer, Tobias and Sparks, Paul (2011) Highlighting relatedness promotes prosocial motives and behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(7), pp. 905-917. ISSN (print) 0146-1672

Pavey, Louisa Jane and Sparks, Paul (2010) Autonomy and reactions to health-risk information. Psychology and Health, 25(7), pp. 855-872. ISSN (print) 0887-0446

Felisberti, Fatima Maria and Pavey, Louisa (2010) Contextual modulation of biases in face recognition. PLoS ONE, 5(9), ISSN (online) 1932-6203

Pavey, Louisa and Sparks, Paul (2009) Reactance, autonomy and paths to persuasion: Examining perceptions of threats to freedom and informational value. Motivation and Emotion, 33(3), pp. 277-290. ISSN (print) 0146-7239

Pavey, Louisa J. and Sparks, Paul (2008) Threats to autonomy: motivational responses to risk information. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38(5), pp. 852-865. ISSN (print) 0046-2772

Conference or Workshop Item

Pavey, Louisa (2022) Moral obligation, autonomous motivation, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Highlighting moral obligation increases reactance in hesitant individuals. In: Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference; 28th-29th June 2022, Bristol, England. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa (2021) Occupational stress and health during the Covid-19 pandemic : mediating effects of work-related rumination. In: 35th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society : Health psychology approaches to tackle global challenges; 23 - 27 Aug 2021, Held online. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa (2021) Occupational stress and health during the Covid-19 pandemic : the role of work-related rumination, intolerance of uncertainty, and financial concern. In: BPS Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference 2021; 29 - 30 Jun 2021, Held online. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa, Churchill, Susan and Sparks, Paul (2019) Proscriptive vs prescriptive messages : perceived legitimacy and reactance effects. In: Annual Conference of the Social Psychology Section, British Psychological Society; 28-30 Aug 2019, York, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa, Churchill, Susan and Sparks, Paul (2017) Proscriptive vs. prescriptive health recommendations to drink alcohol within recommended limits : effects on moral norms, attitudes, intentions, and behaviour change. In: Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology; 06-08 Sept 2017, Cardiff, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa and Churchill, Susan (2014) Temporal frame and the consumption of high calorie snacks : moderating effects of impulsivity. In: 28th Conference of the European Health Psychology Society; 26-30 Aug 2014, Innsbruck, Austria. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa and Churchill, Susan (2012) Promoting healthy dietary behaviour : the role of message framing and autonomy. In: 26th Conference of the European Health Psychology Society : Resiliance and health; 21-25 Aug 2012, Prague, Czech Republic. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa (2012) Motivating employees to take part in health promotion programmes : review of the literature. In: Affinity Health at Work Research Consortium on workplace health, well-being and engagement; 28 Mar 2012, London, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa (2011) Self-affirmation and social behavior : enhancing feelings of connectedness to others. In: 16th General Meeting of the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP); 12-16 Jul 2011, Stockholm, Sweden. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa, Greitemeyer, Tobias and Sparks, Paul (2010) Highlighting relatedness promotes prosocial motivation and behaviour. In: BPS Social Psychology Section Conference; 7-9 Sept 2010, Winchester, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa, Greitemeyer, Tobias and Sparks, Paul (2010) Self-determination and altruism: priming relatedness needs promotes prosocial motives and behaviour. In: Fourth International Self-Determination Theory Conference; 13-16 May 2010, Ghent, Belgium. (Unpublished)

Pavey, Louisa and Sparks, Paul (2009) Autonomy affirmation: experimentally increasing adaptive responses to risk information. In: BPS Social Psychology Section Conference; 15-17 Sept 2009, Sheffield, U.K.. (Unpublished)

This list was generated on Wed Sep 13 07:04:51 2023 BST.

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