Professor Lisa Anne Williams

My Expertise

Social psychology and affective science.

Areas of interest: positive emotions (e.g., pride, gratitude, compassion); prosocial behaviour (e.g., charitable giving, blood donation, volunteering); loneliness; nonverbal behavior (e.g., facial expressions of emotion, eye contact)

Fields of Research (FoR)

Social and Community Psychology

SEO tags

Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences

Biography

I am a social psychologist whose research explores how emotions shape and are shaped by social processes. Specifically, my research focuses on the adaptive functions of positive social emotions such as pride and gratitude. This program of research covers intrapersonal (within person), interpersonal (between individuals), and intergroup (between groups) processes.

My Grants

ARC Linkage Project (LP140100034) 2014-2016: The...view more

My Grants

ARC Linkage Project (LP140100034) 2014-2016: The emotional psychology of blood donors: understanding and using the affective key to donor return
ARC Discovery Project (DP103102110) 2013-2015: To be or not to be proud: Identifying the functionality of pride in intergroup settings
ARC Discovery Project (DP130104468) 2013-2015: Emotional responses to comparisons in romantic relationships: Implications for relationship wellbeing

My Qualifications

Ph.D. Social Psychology, Northeastern University, 2009
M.A. Social Psychology, Northeastern University, 2006
B.A. Psychology, Lewis and Clark College, 2004

My Awards

2017 UNSW Faculty of Science June Griffith Fellowship for Women in Leadership
2014 Australian Psychological Society UNSW Lecturer of the Year

My Research Activities

Research Goals

To apply functional approaches to the empirical study of emotional experience
To identify how discrete positive emotional experience influences wellbeing, prosocial behaviour, and interpersonal accord
To understand the process via which socio-affective experience supports social interactions.

Research in Detail

The goal of my research is to uncover, via empirical methods, the nature of socio-affective experience and the myriad ways that such experience shapes and is shaped by social interactions. Specifically, I consider how emotions that appear to have functions that are adaptive for social interactions (e.g., pride, gratitude, compassion) shape behaviour. I also engage in research that applies the principles of affective science into applied domains, including the motivation that underlies blood donation. To achieve these goals, I employ a variety of methods, including interpersonal emotion inductions, experience sampling procedures, and psychophysiology. I collaborate extensively with colleagues at UNSW, at other Australian universities, and around the world.

Supervision Opportunities/Areas

I am open to supervising new postgraduate and/or Honours students in the areas listed above as well as other, related topics. Interested students should contact me via email to discuss these options.