Dr Megan Birney

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Full Member of the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP)
• Full Member of the European Association for Work and Organisational Psychology (EAWOP)

• PhD Psychology, University of Exeter
• MSc Social & Organisational Psychology, University of Exeter
• BSc Psychology and Interdisciplinary Studies (Business Leadership & International Relations), Virginia Tech (USA)

• Social Identity Theory
• Communication
• Intergroup Processes
• Followership & Obedience
• Stigma & Exclusion

Current Projects:

• Engaged Followership – The New Psychology of Obedience (with Stephen Reicher and Fergus Neville, University of St. Andrews, & Alex Haslam and Nik Steffens, University of Queensland
• Taking one for the Team: Sport and Immoral Development (with Peter Coffee, Heriott-Watt, Stephen Reicher & Fergus Neville, University of St. Andrews)
• Perceptions of/experiences with speaking with a non-native accent (with Anna Rabinovich, University of Sussex & Thomas Morton, University of Copenhagen
• Perceptions of masculinity among adolescents (with Anne McNulty, University of Chester
• The relationship between spite and belief in conspiracy theories (with David Gordon, University of Chester)
• The impact of existential risk on human behaviour (with David Gordon, University of Chester)
• Examining perceptions of intentions in communities (with Suzanne Stewart, University of Chester)

I am currently working with Climbing Out, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping people who have experienced trauma re-build their confidence. Our project looks at the effectiveness of their programmes.

Undergraduate Teaching

• Society & the Mind 
• The Psychology of Social Perception
• Adventures in Psychology
• Oppression and Empowerment 
• Dissertation Supervisor

Birney, M.E. (2023). Self and identity: The basics. Routledge. LINK HERE

Birney, M.E., Reicher, S.D., Haslam, S.A., Steffens, N. & Neville, F. G. (2023). Following in the name of science: Evidence that obedience to authority is a result of perceived prototypicality of the cause. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(2), 866 – 882. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12603

McNulty, A. & Birney, M.E. (2023). What makes a good man? A mixed-methods investigation of adolescent attitudes towards masculinity. Journal of Gender Studies, 1 – 14. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2023.2170337

Birney, M. E., Rabinovich, A., Morton, T. A. (2020). Where are you from? An investigation into the intersectionality between accent strength and nationality status on perceptions of non-native speakers in Britain. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X20932628

Birney, M.E., Roessel, J., Hansen, K., & Rakic, T. (2020). Prologue: Language challenges in the XXI century. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X20933315

Birney, M. E., Rabinovich, A., Morton, T. A., Heath, H., & Ashcroft, S. (2020). When speaking English Is not enough: The consequences of language-based stigma for nonnative Speakers. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 39(1), 67-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X19883906 Gonzalez-Franco, M., Slater, M.,

Birney, M. E., Swapp, D., Haslam, S. A., & Reicher, S. D. (2018). Participant concerns for the Learner in a Virtual Reality replication of the Milgram obedience study. PloS One, 13(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209704

Morton, T.A., Wilson, N., Haslam, C., Birney, M., Kingston, R., & McCloskey, L. (2016) Activating and guiding the engagement of seniors with online social networking: Experimental findings from the AGES 2.0 project. Journal of Aging and Health, 25, 1 – 25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264316664440

Haslam, S.A., Reicher, S.D., & Birney, M.E. (2016). Questioning authority: New perspectives on Milgram’s ‘obedience’ research and its implications for intergroup relations. Current Opinion in Psychology, 11, 6 – 9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.03.007

Haslam, S.A., Reicher, S.D., & Birney, M.E. (2014). Nothing by mere authority: Evidence that in an experimental analogue of the Milgram paradigm participants are motivated to continue not by orders but by appeals to science. Journal of Social Issues, 70(3), 473 – 488. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12072

Rabinovich, A., Morton, T.A., & Birney, M.E. (2012). Communicating climate science: The role of perceived communicator’s motives. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 32(1), 11-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2011.09.002