Reader, School of Psychology and Neuroscience
Biography
Nicole Tausch is Reader in Psychology at the University of St Andrews. She has published widely in the field of social psychology is former Associate Editor of the European Journal of Social Psychology. Nicole is interested in the psychological underpinnings of intergroup relations, conflict, and social change, and passionate about applying her scholarship to “real world” challenges such inequality, forced migration, and climate mitigation. Nicole’s current research focuses on psychological processes driving collective action in repressive contexts, the impact on protest on public opinion, and the ability of social-psychological interventions to reduce political polarization. She applies a variety of methodologies, including highly controlled experiments, longitudinal surveys, and multi-level designs to capture both individual and contextual processes.
Selected publications
Dono, M., Ayanian, A. H., & Tausch, N. (2025). A Fight Against All Odds? The Causal Effects of Perceived Political Efficacy and Protest Repression on Motivation to Engage in Normative and Non-normative Climate Protest. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 106, e102697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102697.
González, R. P., Carvacho, H. P., & Tausch, N. (2025). Group, and individual processes underlying norm transformation and social change. Nature Reviews Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-025-00448-8
Ayanian, A. H., Adra, A., Bou Zeineddine, F., & Saab, R., Vollhardt, J.R., & Tausch, N. (2025). Collective Action Under Repressive Conditions: Integration of Individual, Group, and Structural Level Research, Recommendations, and Reflections. Social Issues & Policy Review, 19, 1–19.
Ogunbode, C.D., Liu, Y., & Tausch, N. (2017). The moderating role of political affiliation in the link between flooding experience and preparedness to reduce energy use. Climatic Change, 145, 445-458.
Tausch, N.; Becker, J.; Spears, R.; Christ, O.; Saab, R.; Singh, P.; & Siddiqui, R.N. (2011). Explaining radical group behaviour: Developing emotion and efficacy routes to normative and non-normative collective action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 129-148.
