My research question is around how group processes as a result of our social identity affect our transport choice. We have a personal identity and a social identity, which changes depending on the situation, and our social identity is formed depending on which groups we belong to, like being a school pupil, a brother, a football fan. So if people identify with different groups they behave in certain ways, like other members of that group, so we want a better understanding of that and how it affects peoples transport choice, specifically why people drive even though it’s bad for the environment.
My newest project looks at how people use to term ‘mansplaining’ in interactions with others. This project, on which I work with 4 colleagues, came about when one of them was accused of mansplaining by a friend. He defended himself against the accusation, but then got intrigued about ‘what it actually means to mansplain to another person’. There is, of course, a definition of mansplaining* but as with many new words, a definition is not sufficiently indicative of how a term is being used.
So our current research, which examines accusations of mansplaining that occurred spontaneously (we have a collection of clips mainly from TV shows and parliamentary debates), asks: how is the term ‘mansplaining’ used in conversations and what does this reveal about the vocabulary of ‘everyday sexism’.
* mansplaining is defined as (usually a man) providing an explanation in a patronising or condescending way (usually to a woman)
My research question is all about why teenagers take risks, and if there are positive sides to risk taking during this time. I look at how these risks might have helped us in prehistoric times, when we were hunter-gatherers. The challenge I aim to address is understanding when teenagers are more likely to take risks, and how we can steer this in a positive direction, to make sure that everyone gets a good start in life.
My research is about how we can ffer better mental health services to people when they need them – without waiting lists or needing to make a referral (see another person like a GP or phone a central phone number) first. By ;eople, we mean all people – particularly tee agers, who often have a lot of trouble accessing services (that tend to be designed for adults, rather than for tenagers and their lifestyles – which seems crazy to me!).
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