Stephen David Reicher is Bishop Wardlaw

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Social Psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. His research is in the area of social psychology, focusing on

social identity Identity is the set of qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance, or expressions that characterize a person or a group. Identity emerges during childhood as children start to comprehend their self-concept, and it remains a consistent ...

, collective behaviour, intergroup conflict,

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

and

mobilisation Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the ...

. He is broadly interested in the issues of group behaviour and the individual-social relationship.

Education

After attending the

Perse School The Perse School is a private school (English fee-charging day and, in the case of the Perse, a former boarding school) in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1615 by Stephen Perse, its motto is ''Qui facit per alium facit per se'', taken to mea ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Reicher completed his undergraduate degree at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, and his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

also at the University of Bristol in 1984 with a thesis on collective behaviour. At Bristol, Reicher worked closely with

Henri Tajfel Henri Tajfel (born Hersz Mordche Tajfel; 22 June 1919 – 3 May 1982) was a Polish social psychologist, best known for his pioneering work on the cognitive aspects of prejudice and social identity theory, as well as being one of the founders of ...

and John Turner on

theory and

social identity model of deindividuation effects The social identity model of deindividuation effects (or SIDE model) is a theory developed in social psychology and communication studies. SIDE explains the effects of anonymity and identifiability on group behavior. It has become one of several th ...

(SIDE).

Career and research

Reicher held positions at the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

and

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

before moving to St Andrews in 1997. He was formerly head of the School of Psychology at St Andrews. He is a former Associate Editor of the ''

Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology The ''Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers dealing with social psychology and community psychology in the context of community problems and strengths. The journal ...

'' and Chief Editor (with

Margaret Wetherell Margaret Wetherell (born 24 November 1954) is a prominent academic in the area of discourse analysis. Career Wetherell worked for 23 years at the Open University, UK from which she retired as Emeritus Professor in 2011. She then took up a par ...

) of the ''

British Journal of Social Psychology The ''British Journal of Social Psychology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Psychological Society. It publishes original papers on subjects like social cognition, attitudes, group proces ...

''. Reicher is an editor for a number of journals including ''

Scientific American Mind ''Scientific American Mind'' was a bimonthly American popular science magazine concentrating on psychology, neuroscience, and related fields. By analyzing and revealing new thinking in the cognitive sciences, the magazine tries to focus on the b ...

''. His research is in the area of social psychology, focusing on

, collective behaviour, intergroup conflict,

and

. He is broadly interested in the issues of group behaviour and the individual-social relationship. His research interests can be grouped into three areas. The first is an attempt to develop a model of crowd action that accounts for both social determination and social change. The second concerns the construction of social categories through language and action. The third concerns political rhetoric and mass mobilisation – especially around the issue of national identity. His research has been funded by the

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

(ESRC) and the

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British UK Research Councils, Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical scienc ...

(EPSRC). His former doctoral students include John Dixon, John Drury, Nick Hopkins, Mark Levine, Eva Loth, Fabio Sani and Clifford Stott Stephen Reicher as well as his direct University of Sussex colleague John Drury are both participants in the Sage subcommittee advising on behavioural science during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was also a member of the advisory committee to the Scottish Government and convened the behavioural science group of Independent SAGE.

Crowd psychology theory

Reicher's work on

crowd psychology Crowd psychology (or mob psychology) is a subfield of social psychology which examines how the psychology of a group of people differs from the psychology of any one person within the group. The study of crowd psychology looks into the actions ...

has challenged the dominant notion of crowd as site of

irrationality Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking, or acting without rationality. Irrationality often has a negative connotation, as thinking and actions that are less useful or more illogical than other more rational alternatives. The concept o ...

and

deindividuation Deindividuation is a concept in social psychology that is generally thought of as the loss of self-awareness in groups, although this is a matter of contention (see below). For the social psychologist, the level of analysis is the individual in ...

. His social identity model (SIM, 1982, 1984, 1987) of crowd behaviour suggests that people are able to act as one in crowd events not because of "contagion" or

social facilitation Social facilitation is a social phenomenon in which being in the presence of others improves individual task performance. That is, people do better on tasks when they are with other people rather than when they are doing the task alone. Situation ...

but because they share a common social identity. This common identity specifies what counts as normative conduct. Unlike the "classic" theories, which tended to presume an association between collectivity and uncontrolled violence (due to a regression to instinctive drives or a pre-existing "racial unconscious"), the social identity model explicitly acknowledges variety by suggesting that different identities have different norms – some peaceful, some conflictual – and that, even where crowds are conflictual, the targets will be only those specified by the social identity of the crowd.

BBC Prison study

Reicher collaborated with

Alex Haslam Stephen Alexander "Alex" Haslam (born 1962) is a professor of psychology and ARC Australian Laureate Fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland. His research focuses on areas of social psychology, organisational psych ...

of the

on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television programme ''

The Experiment ''The Experiment'' is a 2002 BBC documentary series in which 15 men are randomly selected to be either "prisoner" or guard, contained in a simulated prison over an eight-day period. Produced by Steve Reicher and Alex Haslam, it presents the fi ...

'', which examined conflict, order, rebellion and tyranny in the behaviour of a group of individuals held in a simulated prison environment. The experiment (which became known as the BBC Prison Study) re-examined issues raised by the

Stanford Prison Experiment The Stanford prison experiment (SPE), also referred to as the Zimbardo prison experiment (ZPE), was a controversial psychological experiment performed in August 1971 at Stanford University. It was designed to be a two-week simulation of a p ...

(SPE) and led to a number of publications in leading psychology journals. Amongst other things, these challenged the role account of tyranny associated with the SPE as well as broader ideas surrounding the ''

Banality of Evil ''Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil'' is a 1963 book by the philosopher and political thinker Hannah Arendt. Arendt, a Jew who fled Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power, reported on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of ...

'', and advanced a social identity-based understanding of the dynamics of resistance.

Publications

*Reicher, S.D. (1982). "The determination of collective behaviour" (pp. 41–83). In H. Tajfel (ed.), ''Social identity and intergroup relations''. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

. * *Reicher, S.D. (1984b). "The St Pauls' riot: An explanation of the limits of crowd action in terms of a social identity model". ''European Journal of Social Psychology'', 14, 1–21. Also in: Murphy, J., John, M. & Brown, H. (1984), (eds.). ''Dialogues and debates in social psychology'' (pp. 187–205). London:

Lawrence Erlbaum Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 Research and Dovepress. It is a division of I ...

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

*Reicher, S. & Potter, J. (1985). "Psychological theory as intergroup perspective: A comparative analysis of 'scientific' and 'lay' accounts of crowd events". ''

Human Relations In social psychology, an interpersonal relation (or interpersonal relationship) describes a social association, connection, or affiliation between two or more people. It overlaps significantly with the concept of social relations, which ar ...

'', 38, 167–189. *Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). ''Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory.'' Oxford: Blackwell.Book reviewed in * *Reicher, S., Spears, R. & Postmes, T. (1995). "A social identity model of deindividuation phenomena". In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (eds.), ''European Review of Social Psychology'', 6, 161–198. *Reicher, S. (1996) "Social identity and social change: Rethinking the context of social psychology". In W.P. Robinson (Ed.) ''Social groups and identities: Developing the legacy of

'' (pp. 317–336). London: Butterworth. * *Reicher S. D., & Hopkins, N. (1996). "Seeking influence through characterising self-categories: An analysis of anti-abortionist rhetoric". ''British Journal of Social Psychology'', 35, 297–311. *Reicher, S. (1996). "The Crowd century: Reconciling practical success with theoretical failure". ''British Journal of Social Psychology'', 35, 535–53. *Reicher S. D., & Hopkins, N. (1996). "Self-category constructions in political rhetoric; An analysis of Thatcher's and Kinnock's speeches concerning the British miners' strike (1984–85)", ''European Journal of Social Psychology'', 26, 353–371. * *Stott, C. & Reicher, S. (1998a). "Crowd action as inter-group process: Introducing the police perspective". ''European Journal of Social Psychology'', 28, 509–529. *Drury, J. & Reicher, S. (1999). "The intergroup dynamics of collective empowerment: Substantiating the social identity model of crowd behaviour". ''

Group Processes and Intergroup Relations ''Group Processes & Intergroup Relations'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers research in the field of social psychology, including organizational and management sciences, political science, sociology, language and communicat ...

'', 2, 381–402. * *Reicher, S. (2001). "Studying psychology, studying racism". In M. Augoustinos & K. J. Reynolds. (Eds.), ''Understanding prejudice, Racism, and Social conflict''. London: Sage. * *Stott, C., Hutchison, P. & Drury, J. (2001). "'Hooligans' abroad? Inter-group dynamics, social identity and participation in collective 'disorder' at the 1998 World Cup Finals". ''British Journal of Social Psychology'', 40, 359–384. *Reicher, S. D. & Hopkins, N. (2001). ''Self and nation: Categorization, contestation and mobilisation.'' London: Sage. *Drury, J., Reicher, S. & Stott, C. (2003) "Transforming the boundaries of collective identity: From the 'local' anti-road campaign to 'global' resistance?" ''

Social Movement Studies ''Social Movement Studies'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering social science research on protests, social movements, and collective behavior, including reviews of books on these topics. It was established in 2002 as a biannua ...

'', 2, 191–212. *Drury, J., Cocking, C., Beale, J., Hanson, C. & Rapley, F. (2005). "The phenomenology of empowerment in collective action". ''British Journal of Social Psychology'', 44, 309–328. *Reicher, S. D., Haslam, S. A., & Hopkins, N. (2005). "Social identity and the dynamics of leadership: Leaders and followers as collaborative agents in the transformation of social reality". ''Leadership Quarterly. 16'', 547–568. * * * *Haslam, S.A; Reicher, S.D. & Platow, M.J. (2010) ''The New Psychology Of Leadership: Identity, Influence And Power'', New York:

Psychology Press Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 Research and Dovepress. It is a division of ...

Awards and distinctions

* 2004 -

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(FRSE) * 2018 -

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA) * 2021 - Honorary Fellow,

British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the org ...

(HonFBPsS) He was interviewed by

Jim Al-Khalili Jameel Sadik "Jim" Al-Khalili (; born 20 September 1962) is an Iraqi-British theoretical physicist and science populariser. He is professor of theoretical physics and chair in the public engagement in science at the University of Surrey. He is a ...

for ''

The Life Scientific ''The Life Scientific'' is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Jim Al-Khalili, in which each episode is dedicated to the biography and work of a living scientist. The programme consists of an interview between Al-Khalili and the featur ...

'' first broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

in March 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reicher, Stephen David 21st-century British psychologists Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of Exeter Academics of the University of Dundee Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the British Academy Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Political psychologists