Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science

20/10/2026

Congratulations to Alexandra Kirienko on passing her PhD viva with minor corrections! 🎉

Alexandra's thesis, Remote and Hybrid Work and Well-Being: For Whom, To What Extent, and Under What Conditions, analysed data on tens of thousands of people transitioning from office-based to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her research examined both the well-being effects of this transition and the longer-term changes that emerged as new patterns of working became established. She also collaborated with Dr Laura M Giurge on experimental studies exploring workers' preferences for home and hybrid working arrangements.

Alexandra was supervised by Professor Liam Delaney, Professor Tom Reader and Dr Laura M Giurge. She is now based at the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford and OXRAND, combining research with consulting for organisations.

We wish Alexandra every success in her career. 💫

06/10/2026

🎉 We're delighted to share that Dr Yana Litovsky was named Runner-Up in the Spark Award category at the recent LSE Impact Prize ceremony for her project "Curiosity Interventions to Counter Information Avoidance".

The prize funding will support a field study testing whether simple prompts that spark curiosity can encourage people to engage with important health information they might otherwise avoid. Building on previous laboratory findings, the project aims to develop a scalable, low-cost tool to improve engagement with health information and support healthier decision-making.

Congratulations, Yana! 🥳

🔗 Learn more about the LSE Impact Prize: https://info.lse.ac.uk/staff/services/engagement-and-impact/impact-prize

01/10/2026

🎙️ What better way to kick off the academic year than a public event with Professor Cass R Sunstein?

In a thought-provoking lecture, Professor Sunstein explored why people continue to use products such as social media platforms, even when they believe they'd be better off without them.

The event was chaired by Professor Liam Delaney and hosted together with LSE's Department of Economics.

📽️ Missed it? Catch up here:

Many people use social media simply because everyone else does. Whi...

23/09/2026

👏 Professor Paul Dolan from the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science has been appointed as Aristotelis Mistakidis Chair in Behavioural Science.

The new Chair has been made possible by a generous philanthropic gift from LSE alumnus Aristotelis Mistakidis, who commented:

"A deeper understanding of human behaviour and how we interact with one another will give us a clearer view of the world we've built and the one we live in. It will help bridge divides and offer a healthier path forward, whatever our endeavours. I look forward to following Paul's work and the impact he will have in this space."

🤝 LSE President and Vice Chancellor, Professor Larry Kramer, was delighted to introduce Mr Mistakidis to Professor Dolan when he visited LSE last week: https://ow.ly/SwtV50ZQ583

18/09/2026

🎉 The Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science has been ranked number one in the UK for psychology for the third year in a row by the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2027.

We're exceptionally proud of this achievement, which reflects the strength of our teaching, research and wider contribution to the field of psychological and behavioural science.

Head of Department, Professor Alex Gillespie, said: “To be ranked first three years running is a credit to our colleagues, whose research-led teaching engages with problems in the wider world. It is equally a credit to our exceptional students, who throw themselves into their studies and push us to keep improving.”

🙏 Thank you to our staff, students and collaborators for your continued support and engagement.

🔗 https://www.thetimes.com/uk-university-rankings/league-table

18/09/2026

🎤 Professor Alex Gillespie, Head of the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, gave a keynote address at the 40th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS).

Professor Gillespie discussed his work using AI to analyse patient complaints, which found that patient-reported incidents are a better predictor of hospital-level mortality than staff-reported incidents.

🔗 Learn more: https://2026.ehps.net/keynote-speakers/

08/09/2026

🤳 Do social media platforms make people happier?

We're excited to be joined by Professor Cass Sunstein for our first public event of the academic year, hosted together with LSE's Department of Economics and chaired by Professor Liam Delaney.

While social media helps us stay connected, some argue that society would be better off if its use were significantly reduced or even eliminated. Join us for this free event exploring why people continue to use products they may believe are ultimately harmful.

📅 Wednesday 30 September
🕡 6.30pm-8pm
📍 LSE campus and online

Learn more & get your ticket 👇️

6:30pm Wed 30 Sept 2026 | Cass R Sunstein | Ticket Required | Free public event at LSE

07/09/2026

We're delighted to welcome two new colleagues to PBS: Dr Harry Lewis and Dr Fabian Dablander.

Dr Harry Lewis joins us as Assistant Professor in Social and Environmental Psychology. Harry's research examines the capacity of groups to shape individual and collective responses to novel social phenomena, with a particular focus on societal transformation in response to climate change. Drawing on his background in philosophy, he adopts a multidisciplinary, mixed-methods approach to exploring socially oriented solutions to complex social problems.

Dr Fabian Dablander is Assistant Professor in Psychological and Behavioural Science of Sustainability, an exciting joint appointment between PBS and LSE's Global School of Sustainability. His research focuses on understanding how climate action and wider societal transformation can be accelerated. Combining behavioural science, data science and complex-systems approaches, he studies topics including media coverage of climate change, the effects of extreme weather events, and the drivers of climate engagement among elites and the wider public.

Welcome, Harry and Fabian! We're excited to see the contributions you'll make to PBS and LSE.

01/09/2026

After six years as Head of the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, Professor Liam Delaney is handing over the role to Professor Alex Gillespie. We're grateful to Liam for his leadership and delighted to welcome Alex as our new Head of Department.

Learn more ➡️

25/08/2026

⛓️ The Hidden Chain: How Poverty Gets Into Your Brain

Does poverty affect IQ, and if so, how and why? In a new post for the PBS blog, Margo Przybysz explores the relationship between poverty, stress and IQ test scores. Drawing on research into cortisol, memory and cognitive development, she examines how chronic stress and other environmental factors may influence measures of intelligence over time.

➡️ https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/psychologylse/2026/08/18/the-hidden-chain-how-poverty-gets-into-your-brain/

The blog was originally written as part of the LSE Summer School course ‘IR110: Foundations of Psychological Science’. It has been published with the permission of the author.

Does poverty affect IQ, and if so, how and why?In this blog post, originally written for the LSE Summer School course IR110: Foundations of Psychological Science, Margo Przybysz explores the relationship between poverty, stress and IQ test scores. Drawing on research into cortisol, memory and cognit...