Alumni

 

Previous Post-Docs

Wokje Abrahamse, Banting Post-Doctoral Fellow 2011-2013

  1. PhD in Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Groningen, 2007
  2. Currently: Lecturer in Environmental Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
  3. Research Interests: Environmental psychology, interventions to encourage behaviour change, behavioural spill over, social influence

Representative Publications:

Abrahamse, W., & Steg, L. (2013). Social influence approaches to encourage resource conservation: A meta-analysis. Global Environmental Change, 23(6), 1773-1785.

Abrahamse, W., Steg, L., Vlek, C., & Rothengatter, T. (2007). The effect of tailored information, goal setting, and tailored feedback on household energy use, energy-related behaviors and behavioral antecedents. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27(4), 265-276.

Fabio Iglesias, 2008-09 

  1. Ph.D. Psychology, University of Brasilia, 2007
  2. Currently: Associate Professor at University of Brasilia
  3. Research Interests: Social and Environmental Psychology, with an emphasis on urban issues

Representative Publications:

Iglesias, F., & Gunther, H. (2009). A espera na vida urbana: Uma analise psicossocial das filas [Waiting and urban life: A social psychological analysis of lines]. Psicologia em Estudo, 14(3), 537-545.

Iglesias, F. (2001). Infracoes e acidentes: Tentativas de explicacao e de reducao. [Traffic violations and accidents: Explanation and reduction attempts]. Arquivos Brasileiros de Psicologia, 53(3), 112-124.

Michelle Yik, 1999-00

  1. Ph.D. Psychology, University of British Columbia, 1999
  2. Currently: Associate Professor of Social Science, and Acting Head of SOSC at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
  3. Research Interests:  Emotion - the structure of affect, ideal affect, emotion judgments, happiness, Chinese emotion; Personality - culture and personality, personality and social outcomes

Representative Publications:

Yik, M., Russell, J. A., & Steiger, J. H. (2011). A 12-point circumplex model of core affect. Emotion, 11, 705-731.

Yik, M. (2010). Affect and interpersonal behaviors: Where do the circumplexes meet? Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 721-728.

Paul Trapnell, 1997-99

  1. Ph.D. Psychology
  2. Currently: Associate Professor at University of Winnipeg
  3. Research Interests: Personality

Representative Publications:

Buckels, E.E., Trapnell, P.D., and Paulhus, D.L. (2014). Trolls just want to have fun. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 97-102.

Trapnell, P.D., & Paulhus, D.L. (2012). Agentic and communal values: Their scope and measurement. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94, 39-52.

Meson, C. & Trapnell, P. D. (2004). Development and validation of a five-factor sexual satisfaction and distress scale for women: The sexual satisfaction scale for women (SSS-W). Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2, 66-81.

Trapnell, P. D., & Campbell, J. D. (1999). Private self-consciousness and the five-factor model of personality: Distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(2), 84-304.

Completed PhD Students

Karine Lacroix, 2019
  1. PhD Dissertation: “Tailoring interventions: How individual differences influence perceptions, motivation, and behaviour”
  2. Currently: Conducting research on the Theory of Behavioural Choice
  3. Research Interests: Applying behavioural science to tailor interventions to group-specific barriers, motivators, and behaviour, with an emphasis on behaviour change and longitudinal data analysis.
Representative publications:
 
Lacroix, K., Gifford, R., & Rush, J. (2019). Climate change beliefs shape the interpretation of forest fire
 
Lacroix, K., & Gifford, R. (2019). Reducing meat consumption: Identifying group-specific inhibitors using
latent profile analysis. Appetite 138: 233-241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.04.002
 
Lacroix, K., Gifford, R., & Chen, A. (2019). Developing and validating the Dragons of Inaction
Psychological Barrier (DIPB) scale. Journal of Environmental Psychology 63: 9-18.
 
Gifford, R., Lacroix, K., & Chen, A. (2018). Understanding responses to climate change: Psychological
barriers to mitigation and a new theory of behavioral choice. In Clayton, S., & Manning, C. (Eds.),
Psychology and climate change: From denial and depression to adaptation and resilience (pp. 161-183).
Lacroix, K. (2018). Comparing the relative mitigation potential of individual pro-environmental
behaviors. Journal of Cleaner Production 195: 1398-1407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.068
 
Lacroix, K., & Gifford, R. (2018). Psychological barriers to energy-conservation behavior: The role of
worldviews and climate change risk perception. Environment and Behavior 50: 749-780. https://doi-
 
Devan Kronisch, 2019

  1. PhD Dissertation: "Green gamification: Changing habits through long-term engagement and stories"
  2. Currently: Instructor and Workshop Facilitator
  3. Research Interests: Behaviour change interventions, gamification, storytelling, perspective taking, risk perception, natural disasters, conceptualisations of society

 

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Christine Kormos, 2016

  1. PhD Dissertation: "Personal, Interpersonal, and Contextual Influences on Consumer Preferences for Plug-in Electric Vehicles: A Mixed-methods and Interdisciplinary Approach"
  2. Currently: Postdoctoral Researcher in the Sustainable Transportation Action Research Team in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University
  3. Research Interests: Applying insights from the behavioural sciences to climate change mitigation strategies; behaviour change interventions to promote pro-social behaviour, particularly sustainability; consumer perceptions of zero-emissions vehicles

Representative publications:

Kormos, C. (2016). Meta-analysis: An analysis of analyses. In R. Gifford (Ed.), Research Methods for Environmental Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Hine, D., Kormos, C., & Marks, M. (2016). Agree to disagree: A practical guide to conducting survey research in Environmental Psychology. In R. Gifford (Ed.), Research Methods for Environmental Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Khorsand, I., Kormos, C., MacDonald, E. G., & Crawford, C. (2015). Wind energy in the city: An interurban comparison of social acceptance of wind energy projects. Energy Research & Social Science, 8, 66-77.

Kormos, C., Gifford, R., & Brown, E. (2015). The Influence of Descriptive Social Norm Information on Sustainable Transportation Behavior: A Field Experiment. Environment & Behavior, 47, 479-501.

Kormos, C., & Gifford, R. (2014). The validity of self-report measures of proenvironmental behavior: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 40, 359-371.

Gifford, R., Kormos, C., & McIntyre, A. (2011). Behavioral dimensions of climate change: drivers, responses, barriers, and interventions. WIREs Climate Change, 2, 801-827.

Angel Chen, 2015

  1. PhD Dissertation: The Implicit Link of Luxury and Self-Interest: The Influence of Luxury Objects on Social Motivation and Cooperative Behaviour
  2. Currently: Psychology Instructor, Langara  College, Vancouver
Representative publications:

Chen, A., & Gifford, R. (2015). "I wanted to cooperate, but...”": Justifying suboptimal cooperation in a commons dilemma. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 4, 282-291.

Lindsay McCunn, 2011-2016

  1. Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Victoria, 2016
  2. Currently: Professor, Psychology, Vancouver Island University

Representative Publications:

McCunn, L. J., & Frey, C. (2020). Impacts of large-scale interior murals on hospital
employees: A pharmacy department case study. Journal of Facilities Management, 18, 53-70.
 
McCunn, L. J., Vickerie, L., & Gagnon, T. (2020). Evaluating a pop-up resource village in West
Oakland: Making connections with sense of place and perceptions of safety. International
Journal of Community Well-being. 1-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42413-019-00048-4
 
Davis, R., McCunn, L. J., Wilkerson, A., & Safranek, S. (2020). Nurses’ satisfaction with
patient room lighting conditions: A survey of nurses in four hospitals with differences in the
environment of care. Health Environments Research & Design Journal. 1-15. DOI:
 
McCunn, L. J. (2019). Visions of a modern middle school: Participatory design with non-student stakeholder groups. Journal of School Leadership, 29, 1-19. DOI: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1052684619845692
Reuven Sussman, 2015

  1. PhD Dissertation: Paved with Good Environmental Intentions: Reconsidering the Theory of Planned Behaviour
  2. Currently: Manager of the Research Program on Human Behavior at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, Washington, D.C.
  3. Research Interests: Social and Environmental Psychology, focusing primarily on pro-environmental behaviour

Representative publications:

Sussman, R., Lavallee, L., & Giffford, R. (2016). Pro-Environmental Values in a Competitive Versus Cooperative Resource Dilemma. Journal of Social Psychology, 156, 43-55.

Sussman, R., & Gifford, R. (2013). Be the Change You Want to See: Modeling Food Composting in Public Places. Environment & Behavior, 45, 323-343, DOI: 10.1177/0013916511431274.

Sussman, R., Greeno, M., Gifford, R., & Scannell, L. (2013). The Effectiveness of Models and Prompts on Waste Diversion: A Field Experiment on Composting by Cafeteria Patrons. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43, 24-34.

Sussman, R., & Gifford, R. (2012). Please turn off the lights: The effectiveness of visual prompts. Applied Ergonomics, 43, 596-603.

Jessica Rourke, 2014

  1. PhD Dissertation: What are the Steps Involved in Self-Forgiveness?
  2. Currently: Executive Director of Restorative Justice Victoria, a Sessional Instructor at the University of Victoria, and owner of West Coast Healing
  3. Research Interests: Forgiveness, self-forgiveness, enemyship, gratitude, restorative justice
Leila Scannell, 2014

  1. PhD Dissertation: The bases of bonding: The psychological functions of place attachment in relation to interpersonal attachment
  2. Currently: Postdoctoral research fellow in the Sustainable Building Science Program at UBC
  3. Research Interests: Place attachment, interpersonal attachment, pro-environmental behaviour, communicating climate change, post-occupancy evaluation, restorative aspects of nature

Representative Publications

Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2013). Personally relevant climate change: The role of place attachment and local versus global message framing in engagement. Environment & Behavior, 45, 60-85.

Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2010c). The relations between natural and civic place attachment and pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 289-297. 

Scannell, L., & Grouzet, F.M.E. (2010b). The metacognitions of climate change. New Ideas in Psychology, 28, 94-103. 

Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2010a). Defining place attachment: A tripartite organizing framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 1-10.

//jemgibsoatuvic [dot] ca">James Gibson, 2006

  1. PhD Thesis: Interpersonal perception: Don't worry, be happy
  2. Currently: Sessional Instructor in psychology at the University of Victoria
  3. Research Interests: Environmental Psychology

Representative Publications:

Coates, L., Bavelas, J.B., & Gibson, J. (1994). Anomalous language in sexual assault trial judgments. Discourse and Society, 5, 189-206.

Yuko Howes, 2004

  1. PhD Thesis: Investigation of dynamic value hierarchy in environmental issues: The interaction between situational factors and individual value endorsement level
  2. Currently: Retired from a position as a Research Associate, Manchester Architecture Research Centre, School of Environment and Development, The University of Manchester
Donald Hine, 1994

  1. PhD Thesis: Decision making in commons dilemmas: A grounded theory analysis
  2. Currently: Professor in the School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand
  3. Research Interests: Environmental Psychology, climate change, behaviour change

Representative Publications:

Hine, D.W., Clarke, K., Marks, A.D.G., & Morgan, M.I.  (2018).  Feelings about fracking:  Using the affect heuristic to understand public opposition to coal seam gas production.  Risk Analysis, 39, 586-598.  DOI: 10.1111/risa.13168

Jones, C., Hine, D.W., & Marks, A.D.G. (2016).  The future is now:  Reducing psychological distance to increase public engagement with climate change.  Risk Analysis, 37, 331-341.  DOI: 10.1111/risa.12601. 

Hine, D.W., Phillips, W.J., Cooksey, R., Reser, J.P., Nunn, P., Marks, A.D.G., Loi, N.M., & Watt, S.E. (2016).  Preaching to different choirs:  How to engage audiences that are dismissive, uncommitted or alarmed about climate change.  Global Environmental Change, 36, 1-11.

Hine, D.W., Reser, J.P., Morrison, M., Phillips, W.J., Nunn, P., & Cooksey, R. (2014).  Audience segmentation and climate change communication:  Conceptual and methodological considerations.  Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews – Climate Change, 5, 441-459. DOI: 10.1002/wcc.279

Julia MacDonald, 1994

  1. PhD Thesis: The restorative effects of a vacation from work: The role of novelty, positive affect, and nature
  2. Currently: Retired from a position as Director of the Urban Institutions Unit, Ministry of Education, British Columbia Provincial Government

Representative Publications:

MacDonald, J.E., & Gifford, R. (1989). Territorial cues and defensible space theory: The burglar's point of view. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 9(3), 193-205.

Jennifer Veitch, 1992

  1. PhD Thesis: Personal control over workplace lighting: Performance and mood effects
  2. Currently: Principal Research Officer at the National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa
  3. Research Interests: Effect of physical environment on human behavior and well-being

Representative Publications:

Veitch, J.A. (2012). Work environments. In S. D. Clayton (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Environmental and Conservation Psychology (pp. 248-275). New York: Oxford University Press.

Veitch, J.A., Stokkermans, M.G.M., & Newsham, G.R. (2013). Lighting lighting appraisals to work behaviors. Environment and Behavior, 45(2), 198-214.

Newsham, G.R., Birt, B.J., Arsenault, C., Thompson, A.J.L., Veitch, J.A., Mancini, S., ... Burns, G.J. (2013). Do ‘green’ buildings have better indoor environments? New evidence. Building Research & Information, 41(4), 415-434. doi: 10.1080/09613218.2013.789951

Cheuk Ng, 1989

  1. PhD Thesis: Office worker performance and satisfaction: The effects of office noise and individual characteristics
  2. Currently: Professor of Psychology, Athabasca University, Alberta
  3. Research Interests: Environmental psychology at the workplace and home, cultural differences, telework

Representative Publications:

Ng, C. F. (2016). Behavioral mapping and tracking. In R. Gifford (Ed.), Research methods in environmental psychology (Ch. 3, pp. 29-52). Wiley & Sons.

Ng, C. F. (2006).  Academics telecommuting in open and distance education universities: Issues, challenges and opportunities, in the special issue entitled “Academics Working in Open and Distance Learning Universities” of International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 7(2)http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/300/632

Ng, C.F., Northcott, H.C., & Abu-Laban, S.M. (2007). Housing and living Arrangements of South-Asian immigrant seniors in Edmonton, Alberta. Canadian Journal on Aging, 26(3), 185-194.

Ng, C.F. (2003). Satisfying Shoppers' Psychological Needs: From Public Market to Cyber-Mall. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23, 434-450.

Brian O'Connor, 1987

  1. PhD Thesis: Distinguishing among models of nonverbal exchange: Social cognition, arousal-labeling, and discrepancy-arousal
  2. Currently: Professor of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan
  3. Research Interests: Statistical methods; integrative models of normal and abnormal personality

Representative Publications:

O’Connor, B. P. (2018). An illustration of the effects of fluctuations in test information on measurement error, the attenuation of effect sizes, and diagnostic reliability. Psychological Assessment, 30(8), 991-1003.    

O'Connor, B. P. (2002). The search for dimensional structure differences between normality and abnormality: A statistical review of published data on personality and psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 962–982.

Completed Master's Students

Max Pittman, 2019

Thesis: Nature Soundscapes and Cognitive Performance in an Office Environment

Current Position: Master's Student of Architecture at UCLA

Li Qin Tan, 2018

Thesis: Raising Support for Potable Water with the Elaboration Likelihood Model

Current Position: Assistant Manager, Transformation & Research Analytics, Public Transport Council, Singapore

Publications:

Scannell, L., Tan, L., Cox, R., & Gifford, R. (2019). Place attachment, well-being and resilience. In K. Bishop, & N. Marshall. (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of People and Place in the 21st-Century City. New York, NY: Routledge. 

Sussman, R., Tan, L., & Kormos, C. (2019). Behavioral interventions for sustainable transportation: An overview of program and guide for practitioners. In J. Zhang (Ed.). Transport and Energy Research: A Behavioral Perspective. Amsterdam, ND: Elsevier.

Karine Lacroix, 2015

Thesis: Cultural values and climate change

Amanda McIntyre, 2012

Thesis: Empathy and Environmental Concern: Examining the Mediating Role of Nature Relatedness

Lindsay McCunn, 2011

Thesis: Organizational commitment and green buildings

Reuven Sussman, 2009

Thesis: Effectiveness of prompts and models on food composting by restaurant patrons

Christine Kormos, 2009

Thesis: Anticipated changes to quality of life and the impact of divergent social normative information: A field experiment on sustainable transport behaviour

Leila Scannell, 2008

Thesis: Natural and civic place attachment and the relation to pro-environmental behaviours in Trail and Nelson, British Columbia

Kasia Major, 2006

Thesis: Resources depletion and the development of prejudice

Anomi Bearden, 2006

Thesis: Communication and uncertainty in resources dilemmas

Stephen Eso, 1990

Thesis: Psychosocial adjustment to multiple sclerosis

Timothy Gallagher, 1984

Thesis: Distance estimation as a factor of the proximity and humanness of the target

Completed Honours Students

Charlotte Estey, 2019: Why do people engage in environmental activism?

 

Holly Conklin, 2017: Association between perception of introversion and reported social anxiety symptoms

Lauren Colborne, 2016: Understanding climate change and mental health: The role of place attachment in the experience of eco-anxiety

Madelyn Cain, 2016:  Influence of personality in various stress scenarios

Kayla Smart, 2013: What we can’t perceive can still influence us: A look at priming effects on the self

Priya Bains, 2013: Perceiving others: Friend versus lover accuracy in dyadic interpersonal perception

Emma Fraser, 2012: Choosing green products

Carlin Moxley Haegert, 2012: Willingness to pay for climate change

Christine Eugster, 2011: How do we describe others?

Victoria Wood, 2011: Detecting environmental attutides with an IAT measure

James Beland, 2011: Acquaintance court 3 (with James Gibson)

Kelli Gibbons, 2010: Acquaintance court 2 (with James Gibson)

Lia Best, 2009: Attractiveness and social evaluation theory (with James Gibson)

Ildiko Kovacs, 2009: Personal wealth and choices in a commons dilemma

Sabrina White, 2009: Test of the social evaluation theory loneliness hypothesis

Brandon Lum, 2008: It's all about where you come from: The influence of community and cultural background on decision making in commons dilemmas

Nick Facey, 2008: Acquaintance court (with James Gibson)

Tia Eggleston, 2008: Nonverbal cues to romantic rapport

Leanne Davies, 2008: Nonverbal cues to romantic rapport

Rebecca Bruser, 2006: Nonverbal cues to romantic rapport

Sandra Storoschuk, 2006: Development of a scale to measure environmental extremism

Christine Jackson, 2005: National park visitors = attiudes toward wild carnivores

Melanie Prince, 2005: Relationship satisfaction in same-occupation couples

Sasha Wade, 2005: Visitor behaviour and perception of bears, wolves and cougars at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

Tara Morley, 2005:The effects of company responses to complaints on consumer satisfaction and post-purchase behaviours

Amrit K. Dhariwal, 2001: Dilemmas in the commons: What are the roles of social evaluation and reward size?

Heather Schmidt, 1999: Fishing for a wealth disparity: Unequal wealth and social values in a commons dilemma

Krystal J. Arndt, 1999: Intimacy cues as predictors of the quality of romantic relationships

Graham Brown, 1997: Evaluating architects' predictions of public preferences for architecture

Currently Assistant Professor; Entrepreneurship, University of Victoria Peter B. Gustavson School of Business.

D'Arcy Reynolds, 1995: Comparing other-related zero-acquaintance impressions and measured intelligence: A Brunswik lens analysis

Currently Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Southern Indiana. Research interests include online therapy, session impact, therapeutic alliance, psychotherapy process research, and online data collection.

Ryanne Conley, 1994: The effects of environmental uncertainty, conformity, and risk-seeking propensity on individual harvests in a commons dilemma.

Rachel Meredith, 1994: Social values, moral suasion and cooperation in a simulated commons dilemma

Kathleen Ham, 1994: Defensible space theory revisited: Police officers', burglars', and residents' perceptions of vulnerability to burglary

Michael H. Miller, 1992: The effects of communication and pool size on harvesting efficiency and trust in a commons dilemma

Peter Bieling, 1990: Nonverbal dominance behaviour: A test of the two-factor gender-specific model

Myles Bruns, 1989: Recycling and energy conservation: Awareness, information and commitment

Paul F. Boray, 1988: Effects of warm white, cool white, and full-spectrum fluorescent lighting on performance, mood, and evaluations

Katherine Taylor, 1987: Gender differences and environmental contexts in romantic love

Russell Day, 1987: Individual differences in the perception of social behavior

Lurene L. Haines, 1984: Density and territoriality: The effects on classroom performance

James Young, 1983: Leadership style: Changes in Master of Public Administration students

Paul Sacilotto, 1983: The influence of person-thing orientation and isolation on personal space

Timothy Sackmann, 1980: The effects of learned helplessness on risk-taking