Niki Harré

Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 88512
Email: n.harre@auckland.ac.nz
Room: HSB 657

Read Niki’s new book Psychology for a Better World.

My teaching and research is in the area of applied social and community psychology. I completed a PhD at the University of Auckland in 1997 and was appointed to a lectureship in the Department of Psychology the following year. I teach at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and in 2009 received a university award for sustained excellence in teaching. In 2011 I started a new course, with Quentin Atkinson, on Psychology and Sustainability. I also supervise students at Honours, Masters and PhD level. Many of my research projects involve working directly with community groups and I am particularly interested in how our university can contribute to a sustainable society that promotes human wellbeing.

Psych 715 - Psychology and Sustainability
This course is open to students studying within any graduate programme at the university.

 My most recent research addresses issues of sustainability, citizenship and political activism. The question that drives it is how to engage people in creating a more sustainable and equitable society. I am intrigued by the lives of those who are (or at least appear to be) dedicated to the common good. I have an ongoing project at Western Springs College in Auckland to investigate the creation of a ‘sustainability culture’ in a secondary school setting, and am currently involved in a project to examine the motives and experiences of Transition Towns activists. I have just completed a book - Psychology for a Better World that explores strategies to inspire sustainability.

Additionally, I am very involved in the youth development area, which overlaps with the school sustainability project mentioned above. For several years I have worked closely with the Foundation for Youth Development’s Project K, a major national programme aimed at Year 10 high school students who are at risk of poor long term outcomes. My primary role has been to design and oversee their evaluation framework.

Until the last two to three years, most of my research focused on the design and evaluation of injury prevention interventions. I have conducted evaluations of secondary school driver education programmes, community and school based burns prevention programmes, pedestrian injury prevention programmes, and a rail safety project. Alongside this work I have carried out empirical research on attitudes and behaviours related to safety issues. I am still currently doing projects on self-enhancement in young drivers with Chris Sibley.

Niki Harré and Chris Sibley discuss their research on driving biases

• Harré, N. (2011). Psychology for a Better World. Auckland: Department of Psychology, University of Auckland.
• Hollis, H., Deane, K., Moore, J. & Harré, N. (In press). Young Maori Perceptions of a Youth Development Programme. Koutiutiu: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online.
• Trayes, J., Harré, N., Overall, N. (In press). A youth performing arts experience: Psychological experiences, recollections and the desire to do it again. Journal of Adolescent Research
• Milfont, T., Harré, N. Sibley, C., & Duckitt, J. (In press). The climate change dilemma: Examining the association between parental status and political party support. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
• Sibley, C., Harré, N. Hoverd, W.J., & Houkamau, C. (2011). The Gap in the Subjective Wellbeing of Māori and New Zealand Europeans Widened between 2005 and 2009. Social Indicators Research, 104, 103-115.
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