PhD Students
I supervise several PhD students who are engaged in independent research projects related to my own research interests. Have a look through their profiles, perhaps it will inspire you to develop your own research proposal and come and join us?
Zane Sheeran
The influence of organisational environmental sustainability on employee well-being, authenticity and productivity.
University of Waikato, NZ
I was first exposed to the exciting world of organisational psychology whilst taking a gap year and working for a company in the UAE that builds and runs sustainable schools and teaches a curriculum based on ecoliteracy. This is also when I began to develop an interest in environmental sustainability. After completing a BSc in psychology and environmental science I joined Dr Anna Sutton's lab as an honours student, where my dissertation focused on the predictive powers of authenticity and personality on employee well-being.
My PhD research aims to investigate whether 'green' companies have happier, more authentic and better performing employees.
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Shanice Herms
Testing the mindfulness stress buffering hypothesis
University of Waikato, NZ
During my Organisational Psychology Master program in the Netherlands, I became interested in the topic of positive psychology and mindfulness. I’m interested in how we can use psychology to help people flourish and use their strengths, focusing on inner resources.
My doctoral research aims at exploring through which mechanisms mindfulness exerts its positive effects. Specifically, I will investigate the mindfulness stress buffering hypothesis which states that the benefits of mindfulness are most prominent during periods of increased stress while assuming that mindfulness only has minimal or no positive effects under low stress circumstances.
Claudia Nario
Leadership Development through self-awareness training based on the Enneagram model of personality: a longitudinal study
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
I have been a practicing organizational psychologist for more than 25 years, having worked both as a Consultant and an HR Executive, and I have an MSc in Organizational Behaviour. During my career, I have developed two passions: Leadership Development and the Enneagram, which I have found to be an extremely powerful tool to understand personality and predict behavior.
My interest is to measure the impact of Enneagram-based self-awareness training on the development of Leadership skills on a group of managers. The 18-month programme will involve coaching and intensive training, and the impact will be measured by a 360 evaluation before and after its implementation, as opposed to that of a control group.
The potential and the limits of mindfulness: When and for whom is it beneficial?
University of Waikato, NZ
(Completed 2021)
I work as a lecturer in Organisational Psychology at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. I am interested in understanding and improving the experiences of employees by applying principles and methods from positive psychology and cognitive psychology.
In my PhD research I examined the benefits and limitations of mindfulness in the workplace and investigated under which circumstances mindfulness-based interventions show positive effects.
Sarah-Jane Lennie
Emotional labour and inauthenticity: how ‘playing the professional role’ can impact on resilience when dealing with daily traumatic events.
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Completed 2019
For fifteen years I was a police officer serving in various departments, from front line uniform policing, through to child protection and murder investigation. As you can imagine I regularly dealt with complex, challenging, and distressing circumstances, and supported my staff through many difficult times.
My aim is to understand why it is that so many police officers experience high levels of psychological distress, but suffer in silence until it is too late. From personal experience I understand how police officers create a 'role' for themselves so that they act according to public and organisational demands. I wish to explore how the discrepancy between how we feel and what we display impacts our mental health and wellbeing. My ambition is to positively affect the emotional culture of the police service and to reduce stigma around mental health.
Wim Kuit
Development and Evaluation of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Enhancement (CARE) Intervention
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa
Completed 2018
I am a psychologist and since 2008 I have been applying the Enneagram in my work with individuals, couples and groups. Recently I have become interested in the application of the Enneagram within sport psychology research and practice. Having applied the Enneagram in mental health and addiction treatment, my work is focused on bringing together insights about behaviour change and personal development with an in-depth understanding of personality patterns and their influence on relationships and performance.
My PhD research focused on enhancing the coach-athlete relationship through an integration of the Enneagram typology with sport psychological theories of the coach-athlete relationship. I developed and evaluated a practical intervention for improving the relationship between elite level university coaches and athletes.