Katharine Greenaway

Katharine Greenaway will become a CIFAR Junior Fellow in the summer of 2012, working under the primary supervision of Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being Fellow Alex Haslam in the University of Queensland’s School of Psychology. She will also work closely with co-supervisor and Fellow Nyla Branscombe of the University of Kansas. Katie will complete her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of Queensland in 2012, with Dr. Winnifred Louis and Professor Matthew Hornsey as thesis advisors. She received her Bachelor of Psychological Science degree from the same university in 2007 with First Class Honours.

At a broad level, Katie’s research deals with human motivations and needs, focusing on the need for control. She is interested in understanding how people feel when they lack control over life outcomes, and has identified a number of psychological strategies people can use to trick themselves into feeling in control. In another line of work, Katie investigates motivation at the group level by focusing on the desire to maintain a positive social identity when people are reminded of wrongdoing perpetrated by their group. She hopes to combine these two lines of work while working as a Junior Fellow to investigate feelings of control derived from group identity. Katie’s research will contribute to understanding why identifying with groups makes us happier, healthier, and more productive individuals.