Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington

Jennifer completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology & Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin and Masters in Social Psychology at the LSE. She then joined the UK civil service as a social psychologist, applying behavioural insights to the understanding of conflict and terrorism, rising to the role of Senior Strategic Analyst. Jennifer moved to the US to complete her PhD in Psychology at Harvard University, where she was also a Fellow at the Multidisciplinary Programme in Inequality & Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Edmond J. Safra Centre for Ethics (at the Lab on Institutional Corruption, led by Lawrence Lessig). Having commenced a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at Brunel University, Jennifer joined the LSE as an Assistant Professor in January 2016. Jennifer is also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Oslo and Aarhus University, a Faculty Associate at the LSE International Inequalities Institute, and Associate Editor of the British Journal of Psychology (IF = 3.24).

Jennifer’s research has two strands, united by a concern to articulate the mutual influence of psychological and societal processes. The first applies the lens of social dominance theory to explore the psychological foundations and downstream consequences of socio-political attitudes such as egalitarianism. The second draws on socio-ecological psychology to investigate the impact of socioeconomic strain on basic decision-making processes. Both utilise a range of methods, including experiments, longitudinal surveys, cross-national analyses, and occasionally qualitative and computational methods. This research has been funded by the British Academy, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and the Tobin Project, among others, and is published in journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, in addition to policy-focused platforms such as the United Nations Development Programme.

Jennifer is also elaborating on the implications of her work for poverty alleviation in domestic and international domains, with a current focus on community engagement through the Indus Health Network in Sindh, Pakistan.

Expertise Details

Political psychology; Intergroup relations & conflict; Behavioural economics of poverty; Inequality & social stratification; Power & status; Evolutionary psychology; Quantitative methods (surveys; experiments; scale development; longitudinal analysis)

GRANTS & AWARDS

• Research Grant (Academic Collaboration with Arab Universities Programme), Emirates Foundation (2020-2023, PI; Co-PIs PJ Henry, NYU-Abu Dhabi, & Christian Haerpfer, UAEU).
• Research Grant (Conference on Inequality & Decision-Making), The Tobin Project (2016)
• Research Grant (Evidence Review on Poverty & Decision-Making), The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2016)
• Research Visibility Award, Institute for Environment, Health & Societies, Brunel University (2015)
• Honourable Mention, Dissertation Award, International Society of Political Psychology (2015)
• Richard J. Herrnstein Dissertation Prize, Harvard University (2015)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, British Academy for the Humanities & Social Sciences (2015-2017)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo (2014)
• Graduate Student Travel Award, Society for Personality and Social Psychology (2014)
• Graduate Student Fellowship, Forum on Democracy & Markets, The Tobin Project (2013-2014)
• Graduate Student Award, Harvard University Interfaculty Initiative in Mind, Brain, & Behaviour (2013)
• Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching (2013)
• Nominee, Star Family Prize for Excellence in Advising, Harvard College (2013, 2014)
• Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University (2013-2014)
• Summer Conference Grant, Graduate Student Council, Harvard University (2012)
• Norman Henry Anderson Graduate Psychology Fund Research Grant, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University (2011, 2012
• Doctoral Fellowship, Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality & Social Policy, Harvard University (National Science Foundation & Harvard Kennedy School of Government, 2011-2014)
• Edmond J. Safra Lab Fellowship (non-residential), Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard Law School (Prof. Lawrence Lessig’s Lab Project on Institutional Corruption, 2010-2011)
• Norman Henry Anderson Graduate Psychology Fund PhD Scholarship, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University (2009-2011)
• Stimson Fund Research Grant, Department of Psychology, Harvard University (2010)
• Fellowship Supplement, Center for Human Values, Princeton University (2009, declined)
• Hilde T. Himmelweit Prize for Highest MSc Grade, LSE (2006)
• Socrates Grant for Study Abroad, European Union (2002)
• Entrance Exhibition Scholarship, Trinity College Dublin (1999, 2000)