Alex Haslam

S. Alexander Haslam (Alex Haslam) (b. 1962) is a Professor of Social Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Exeter. He was born in Horsforth (Yorkshire), and educated at Felsted School.

His research is in the area of social and organisational psychology, exploring issues of stereotyping and prejudice, tyranny and resistance, leadership and power, stress and well-being. This work is informed by, and has contributed to the development of, theory and ideas in the social identity tradition.

In 2001 Haslam collaborated with Professor Steve Reicher of the University of St Andrews on the BBC television programme The Experiment, which examined conflict, order, rebellion and tyranny in the behaviour of a group of individuals within a simulated prison environment. The Experiment (which became known as the BBC Prison Study) re-examined issues raised by the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) and attempted to combine compelling broadcasting with cutting-edge social science research. The results of the study were subsequently published 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'.

Haslam is also known for his research into leadership, including work with Michelle Ryan into the glass cliff that examines the leadership experiences of women in organizations. This was short-listed for the Times Higher Education 'Research Project of the Year' in 2005. His work on the Social Identity Approach to health and well-being (including the Integrated Social Identity model of Stress; ISIS) is also highly cited.

Haslam holds a Master of Arts (MA) degree from the University of St Andrews and a PhD from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. His doctoral work at Macquarie was supervised by John Turner and funded by a Commonwealth Scholarship. This was preceded by a year as a Robert T. Jones scholar at Emory University (Atlanta). Prior to his appointment at Exeter, Haslam worked for ten years at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Haslam is a recipient of the European Association of Social Psychology's Kurt Lewin medal, and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research working on its Social Interaction, Identity and Well-Being program. In 2009 he won the British Psychology Society's Award for excellence in teaching psychology, and the following year received a National Teaching Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy. He was an Associate Editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology from 1999-2001, Chief Editor of the European Journal of Social Psychology from 2001-2005, and President of the Psychology Section of the British Science Association from 2009-2010. He is currently a consultant editor for a range of journals including Scientific American Mind.

Key publications

Books

• Oakes, P. J., Haslam, S. A., & Turner, J. C. (1994). Stereotyping and social reality. Oxford: Blackwell.

• Haslam, S. A., & McGarty, C. (2003). Research methods and statistics in psychology. London and Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Haslam, S. A. (2004). Psychology in organizations: The social identity approach (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

• Haslam, S. A., Reicher, S. D. & Platow, M. J. (2010). The new psychology of leadership: Identity, influence and power. London: Psychology Press.

Edited Books

• Spears, R., Oakes, P. J., Ellemers, N., & Haslam, S. A. (Eds.) (1997). The social psychology of stereotyping and group life. Oxford: Blackwell.

• McGarty, C., & Haslam, S. A. (Eds.) (1997). The message of social psychology: Perspectives on mind in society. Oxford: Blackwell.

• Haslam, S. A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M., & Ellemers, N. (Eds.) (2003). Social identity at work: Developing theory for organizational practice. New York and Hove: Psychology Press.

• Jetten, J., Haslam, C., & Haslam, S. A. (Eds.) (2011). The social cure: Identity, health and well-being. New York and Hove: Psychology Press.

• Smith, J. R., & Haslam, S. A. (Eds.) (in press). Social psychology: Revisiting the classic studies. London: Sage.

Journal articles

• Oakes, P. J., Turner, J. C., & Haslam, S. A. (1991). Perceiving people as group members: The role of fit in the salience of social categorizations. British Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 125-144.

• Haslam, S. A., Turner, J. C., Oakes, P. J., McGarty, C., & Hayes, B. K. (1992). Context-dependent variation in social stereotyping 1: The effects of intergroup relations as mediated by social change and frame of reference. European Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 3-20.

• Haslam, S. A. & Turner, J. C., (1992). Context-dependent variation in social stereotyping 2: The relationship between frame of reference, self-categorization and accentuation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 251-277.

• Turner, J. C., Oakes, P. J., Haslam, S. A., & McGarty, C. (1994). Self and collective: Cognition and social context. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 454-463.

• Haslam, S. A., McGarty, C., & Brown, P. (1996). The search for differentiated meaning is a precursor to illusory correlation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 611-619.

• Haslam, S. A., Oakes, P. J., McGarty, C., Turner, J. C., Reynolds, K. J., & Eggins, R. A. (1996). Stereotyping and social influence: The mediation of stereotype applicability and sharedness by the views of ingroup and outgroup members. British Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 369-397.

• Haslam, S. A., Turner, J. C., Oakes, P. J., McGarty, C., & Reynolds, K. J. (1998). The group as a basis for emergent stereotype consensus. European Review of Social Psychology, 8, 203-239.

• Haslam, S. A., & Platow, M. J. (2001). The link between leadership and followership: How affirming social identity translates vision into action. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1469-1479.

• Haslam, S. A. Eggins, R. A., & Reynolds, K. J. (2003). The ASPIRe model: Actualizing Social and Personal Identity Resources to enhance organizational outcomes. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 76, 83-113.

• Haslam, S. A., Postmes, T., & Ellemers, N. (2003). More than a metaphor: Organizational identity makes organizational life possible. British Journal of Management, 14, 357-369.

• Reicher, S. D., & Haslam, S. A. (2006). Rethinking the psychology of tyranny: The BBC Prison Study. British Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 1-40.

• Haslam, S. A., & Reicher, S. D. (2006). Stressing the group: Social identity and the unfolding dynamics of responses to stress. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 1037-1052.

• Ryan, M. K., & Haslam, S. A. (2007). The Glass Cliff: Exploring the dynamics surrounding the appointment of women precarious leadership positions. Academy of Management Review, 32, 549-572.

• Haslam, S. A., & Reicher, S. D. (2007). Beyond the banality of evil: Three dynamics of an interactionist social psychology of tyranny. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 615-622.

• Haslam, S. A., & Ryan, M. K. (2008). The road to the glass cliff: Differences in the perceived suitability of men and women for leadership positions in succeeding and failing organizations. Leadership Quarterly, 19, 530-546.

• Haslam, S. A., Jetten, J., Postmes, T., & Haslam, C. (2009). Social identity, health and well-being: An emerging agenda for applied psychology. Applied Psychology: An International Review, "58", 1-23.

• Haslam, S. A., & Reicher, S. D. (in press). When prisoners take over the prison: A social psychology of resistance. Personality and Social Psychology Review.

External links

• The official website of the BBC Prison Study