Eirini Ketzitzidou Argyri

About me:

My work explores normality challenging and diversifying experiences. I investigate how challenging perceptions of Normality trigger mechanisms with layered impact on individual and collective potential for transformation.

My PhD research looks at the pluripotency of psychedelic-induced psychological transformations (Economic and Social Research Council funded project with Celia Morgan and Gosia Gocowska; 2021-2024).

I am interested in mechanisms that unlock mental plasticity (trauma - growth) and their role in shaping the subjective nature of individual and shared 'Reality'. This includes the personal, inter-personal and group dynamics underlying 'Normality' and evaluations of those that challenge it.

The meaning of diversity for the individual, deeper inter-personal connection and socio-psychological inclusion, become drivers to my interest in Cognitive, Social, and Developmental Psychology, and their intersecting applications for mental health and social policy.

I adopt a philosophical approach as a psychologist with the guiding principle that "the past informs and constrains us through the probable; it does not have to restrain us, from the possible."

At Exeter's Psychology department I have worked with Professor Rutland’s Developmental Intergroup Processes lab, looking at children’s and adolescents’ social-moral reasoning and the role norms play across development.

On the Bystander project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the team looks at children’s and adolescents’ bystander reactions to, and evaluations of, the social exclusion of immigrant peers. I focussed on the way children and adolescents reason about their evaluations of the exclusion and those who challenge it, through the lens of the Social Reasoning Development (SRD) model.

Broadly, my research centres and circles around:

- Untangling the cognitive mechanisms behind prejudice, perspective change, and open-mindedness

- Identifying links that bring us closer to connection with 'the other', and within

- Creating transformation through identity-transcending empowerment

I joined the University of Exeter in September 2019, moving from London where I was working as a Research Consultant for a Human Resources consultancy, exploring the role of technology partnerships for employee wellbeing and flourishing company cultures.

Interests:

"One can't always choose the subject matter, but they can become weavers to their narrative."

My research interests currently focus in the field of psychedelic research, viewing the substances as elicitors of diversifying experiences that enable psychological transformation.

I am studying the pluripotency of psychedelic-induced psychological transformations (ESRC studentship with Celia Morgan - University of Exeter & Malgorzata Goclowska, Gosia - University of Bath). Within this research I study the state of 'Mental Plasticity' elicited by the psychedelic-induced mystical experience, and its 'magical' potential for:

-untangling the web of the subjective nature of our reality that holds us prisoners to our memory

-reconnecting us to the depths of meaning lost in increasingly complex, yet nuance-blind digital worlds.

At UCL and Exeter University, I have worked on projects studying social-cognitive flexibility and the role of morality and social conventions in children's reasoning about exclusion.

With a background of (ancient) Greek language, philosophy and education studies, I believe in the value of transdisciplinary approaches to psychology.

I am impassioned to increase neurodiversity awareness by addressing norms of judgment, silencing, and challenging identity-based division.

I value a philosophical approach in science and personal life: challenging assumptions at an inter&intra-personal and intergroup level. Always looking to have open and honest discussions to form collaborations and create avenues for change.

Qualifications:

Associate Fellow Higher Education Academy (AFHEA, ASPIRE Associate Fellowship)

MSc Psychology of Education (UCL Institute of Education, Distinction)

Ptychion (Degree) in Philosophy, Pedagogy & Psychology (Psychology pathway; University of Ioannina, Greece)