Summer Lea Bedford

About me:

I am a PhD candidate and began my research degree in 2021. My project aims to investigate the mechanism underlying ingroup bias in empathy and prosocial behaviour, focusing on intergroup felt understanding (the perception that an outgroup group understands the ingroup’s perspectives, motives, intentions, culture, and beliefs) as a potential link between shared social identity, empathy, and prosocial behaviour.

I completed my MSc in Social Psychology in 2019, also at the University of Exeter. My MSc research project is included in a series of studies (https://psyarxiv.com/5u7pa/; Study 6), examining the effect of felt understanding on intergroup relations.

Research interests include (but are not limited to!): meta and meta-meta perspectives, intergroup conflict, reconciliation, collective action, intergroup emotions.

I am also a postgraduate teaching assistant on the PSY2210 Social Psychology Practical II module, and facilitated the Mental Health challenge of the University of Exeter Grand Challenges 2023.