Key details
Dr Rebecca Smith
Associate Lecturer
Dr Rebecca Smith joined the University of Greenwich in 2005, following the completion of her PhD at the University of Dundee. She is a social psychologist with wide-ranging research interests, including attitudes towards sexual assault, ostracism, and the application of social psychological theories such as terror management, self-categorisation theory, and social dominance. Her work is driven by a commitment to understanding and reducing social inequalities, with a strong focus on translating research into practice.
Dr Smith has led a number of applied projects, including the development of university staff training informed by bystander intervention and allyship principles to reduce prejudice and discrimination. She is currently working in partnership with the Vice-Chancellor’s Office to design, implement, and evaluate sexual misconduct prevention training for both staff and students.
She serves as a Practice Lead for both the Centre for Children and Families and the Centre for Mental Health, and is the Faculty PGR Coordinator. In this role, she holds UKCGE supervision recognition and undertakes research on the wellbeing of postgraduate research students and staff.
Dr Smith is an active member of the British Psychological Society (BPS), serving on its Undergraduate Education Committee since 2018. She is a Fellow of the BPS and a Senior Fellow of Advance HE.
Previous positions:
- Deputy Head of Department (2015–2016)
- TMC Link Tutor (2009–2013)
Responsibilities within the university
- Senior Lecturer, Psychology
- Link tutor
Recognition
Rebecca is a regular reviewer for the following journals:
- Applied Social Psychology
- Death Studies
- Motivation and Emotion
Rebecca is on the Undergraduate Education Committee of the BPS.
Professional affiliations/associations
- British Psychology Society (BPS)
- European Association of Social Psychology (EASP)
- Senior Fellow HEA
Research / Scholarly interests
Rebecca’s research interests include ostracism and social exclusion, this extends to research with homeless people and prejudice directed towards the homeless. More recently Rebecca has developed a research interest is in rape myth acceptance and the impact of sexual violence prevention training.
Rebecca has also conducted research on attitudes towards close relationships.
Key funded projects
- University of Greenwich: the meaning of death-personal meaning as a terror management strategy, 2012
Recent publications
Article
Thompson, L , Turley, E, Beetham, T, Donnelly, L C , Lazard, L , Bassra, S , Castellino, C , Christie, D , Cole, J , Hubbard, K (2023), Doing feminisms on the ground: challenges and opportunities for critical feminist psychologies. British Psychological Society (BPS). In: , , , . British Psychological Society (BPS), Psychology of Women and Equalities Section Review, 6 (1) . pp. 5-19 ISSN: 2976-8799 (Print), 2517-4932 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.53841/bpspowe.2023.6.1.5) NB Item availability restricted.
Smith, Rebecca and , Stathi, Sofia (2021), Social dominance orientation, belief in a just world and intergroup contact as predictors of homeless stigmatisation. Routledge - Taylor and Francis. In: , , , . Routledge - Taylor and Francis, Journal of Social Psychology . pp. 1-12 ISSN: 0022-4545 (Print), 1940-1183 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2021.1963204).
Willis, Malachi and , Smith, Rebecca (2021), Sexual consent across diverse sexual behaviors: gender differences and nonconsensual sexual experiences. SAGE Publications. In: , , , . SAGE Publications, Journal of Interpersonal Violence . pp. 1-27 ISSN: 0886-2605 (Print), 1552-6518 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211044101).
Morgan, Jessica , Smith, Rebecca, Singh, Amrik (2019), Exploring the role of humor in the management of existential anxiety. De Gruyter. In: , , , . De Gruyter, HUMOR International Journal of Humor Research, 32 (3) . pp. 433-448 ISSN: 0933-1719 (Print), 1613-3722 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2017-0063).
Tamplin-Wilson, Jay , Smith, Rebecca, Morgan, Jessica, Maras, Pamela (2019), Video games as a recovery intervention for ostracism. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Computers in Human Behavior, 97 . pp. 130-136 ISSN: 0747-5632 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.008).
Van Zalk, Nejra and , Smith, Rebecca (2019), Internalizing profiles of homeless adults: investigating links between perceived ostracism and need-threat. Frontiers Media. In: , , , . Frontiers Media, Frontiers in Psychology: Psychopathology, 10: 350 ISSN: 1664-1078 (Print), 1664-1078 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00350).
Conference item
Görzig, Anke , Smith, Rebecca, Monks, Claire, Thompson, Jessica , Charafeddine, Dima (2022), Social media ostracism in the context of university and discriminated against group membership. In: Annual Meeting of the Social Psychology section of the British Psychological Society, 5th September 2022, London , . , (doi: ).
Chopra, Priti , Withey, Carol, Ragab, Sara, Smith, Rebecca , Fanghanel, Alexandra (2022), Intimate partner violence: recognising issues and supporting prevention. In: #Its not okay: Sexual Violence Awareness Mini Conference, 11 February 2022, Online , . , (doi: ) NB Item availability restricted.