Dominic Abrams

Dominic Abrams, FBA is a Professor of Social Psychology and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Group Processes in the School of Psychology at the University of Kent. His research examines prejudice, discrimination, social attitudes and social change across the life course. It spans social and developmental psychology and gerontology and uses a wide range of methods, most frequently surveys and experiments.

Life

Dominic Abrams was born in Cambridge (England). He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Manchester, and master's degree in Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science, then his PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Kent. He has served numerous professional bodies including the British Psychological Society as chair of its Research Board and Secretary/Treasurer of the Social Psychology Section; the European Association of Social Psychology, as its Secretary; and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, as its President. Abrams is a musician and guitarist who plays and composes acoustic folk, blues and jazz.

Employment and roles

Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of Bristol, 1983; ‘New blood’ Lecturer in Social Cognition at University of Dundee, 1985; Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of Kent 1989; Senior Lecturer, 1991; Reader, 1992, Professor, 1993, Director of the Centre for the Study of Group Processes, 1995. Dominic Abrams is Founding Co-Editor (with Michael A. Hogg) of Group Processes and Intergroup Relations and the Co-Director of European Research on Attitudes to Ageing. He recently was Co-Editor (with Melanie Killen) of Journal of Social Issues: (2014,1) Social Exclusion of Children: Developmental Origins of Prejudice. He has prepared reports for government departments and NGOs including the Equality and Human Rights Commission, People United, and Age UK. He currently serves on the Council of the Academy of Social Sciences (of which he was a founding Trustee) and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. He is a Trustee of the Anne Frank Trust.

Qualifications and achievements

Abrams is a chartered psychologist, and a Fellow of the British Academy, the Academy of Social Sciences, the British Psychological Society, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (APA division 9), the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and of the American Psychological Society. He was recipient of the BPS Presidents' Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychological Knowledge.

Bibliography

Abrams has published over 200 articles, chapters and books including the book co-authored with Michael A. Hogg, Social Identifications: A Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations and Group Process (1988) (London: Routledge). Recent articles include:

• Abrams, D. (2015). Social identity and intergroup relations. In M. Mikulincer & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), APA handbook of personality and social psychology: Vol. 2. Group processes (pp. 203–228). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi: 10.1037/14342-008
• Abrams, D., Houston, D. M.Van de Vyver, J., & Vasiljevic, M. (2015). Equality hypocrisy: Equality is a universal human right that we apply unequally. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Special Issue: Psychologies of Human Rights, 21, 28-46. .doi.org/10.1037/pac0000084
• Lamont, R., Swift, H.J., & Abrams, D. (2015). A review and meta-analysis of age-based stereotype threat: Negative stereotypes, not facts, do the damage. Psychology and Aging. doi: 10.1037/a0038586
• Abrams, D., & Killen, M. (2014). Social exclusion of children: Developmental origins of prejudice. Journal of Social Issues, 70, 1. doi: josi12043
• Abrams, D., Palmer, S.B., Rutland, A., Cameron, L., & Van de Vyver, J. (2014). Evaluations of and reasoning about normative and deviant ingroup and outgroup members: Development of the black sheep effect. Developmental Psychology, 50, 258-270. doi: 10.1037/a0032461
• Abrams, D., Travaglino, G.A., Randsley de Moura, G., & May, P.J. (2014). A step too far? Leader racism inhibits transgression credit. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 730- 735. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2063.
• Abrams, D., & Vasiljevic, M.D. (2014). How does macroeconomic change affect social identity (and vice versa?): Insights from the European context?, Analysis of Social Issues and Public Policy (pp 1–28). doi: 10.1111/asap.12052
• Swift, H.J., Vauclair, C-M., Abrams, D., Bratt, C., Marques, S., & Lima, M-L. (2014). Revisiting the paradox of well-being: The importance of national context. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbu011
• Travaglino, G., Abrams, D., Randsley de Moura, G., & Russo,. G. (2014). Organized crime and group-based ideology: The association between masculine honor and collective opposition against criminal organizations. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, Special Issue on Gangs. doi 10.1177/1368430214533394.