Huseyin Cakal

Biography

I completed my BA and MA Ed. In English Language Teaching at Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey. I then obtained a MSc. in Sociology from the University of Manchester and DPhil in Social Psychology from the University of Oxford before I joined the School of Psychology in 2016 as a lecturer in psychology. I have a particular passion for policy oriented research on extremely disadvantaged communities in the least accessed regions, e.g. South East Asia, Latin America, and in the Middle East.

Research and scholarship

Within the broad area of intergroup relations, my work has covered the dynamics of collective action and prejudice reduction strategies, effects of social identity and intergroup contact on health, and intergroup emotions among advantaged and disadvantaged groups. I have conducted research on these topics among some of the least accessible populations such as Indigenous peoples in South America, Christian Minorities in Iraq, Muslims and Hindus in Kashmir, and among Bosnian Muslims. I have also conducted research on human-robot interaction, and on the effects of behavioural synchrony on social cohesion.

Current research

• Prejudice Reduction, Collective Action Participation, and Well-Being 
  I have recently been awarded a UKIERI grant (£198,000) as principal investigator to conduct research on the impact of prejudice reduction strategies and collective action participation on well-being in India.
• Refugee Integration: I am involved in a multi-country study of refugee integration and well-being among younger refugees with exposure to violence.

Teaching

Year 1

• PSY10018: Individual Differences
• PSY10015: Research Methods
• PSY10019: Applied Psychology (Module Leader)
• PSY40015: MSc Dissertation supervision (Supervisor)
• PSY40037: MSc Contemporary Research in Psychology (Module Leader)
• PSY-10034 Introduction to Biological and Cognitive Psychology

Year 2 

• PSY-20012 Developmental and Social Psychology
• PSY-20034 Social Psychology in the Modern World
• PSY-20043 Qualitative & Survey Research Design

Year 3

• PSY-30125 Culture and Psychology

Postgraduate

• PSY-40039 Advanced Research Skills and Design
• PSY-40077 Advanced Study in Applied Social & Political Psychology

Post-Graduate Supervision

Current MSc and PhD Opportunities

Psychological Processes Underlying Collective Mobilization in Violent Contexts
Most research on collective action shows that individuals seem more motivated to act non-violently for social change when they more strongly identify with their disadvantaged group, experience negative emotions like anger in response to their disadvantage, and, most central to the current project, believe in the group’s efficacy to collectively achieve social change through joint action (van Zomeren, Leach, & Spears, 2012). This research looks at these processes pan out in which repressive violence has become such a ‘normal’ occurrence that violence may be a, if not the, way to achieve social change. More specifically, the project will focus on whether the same, or different, psychological processes explain why individuals engage in violence to achieve social change. 

Motivational Basis of Refugee Integration
Research shows that social groups have considerable positive effects on health and well-being (Jetten, Haslam, Haslam, Dingle, & Jones, 2014) and these effects are influenced by the nature and frequency of positive relations with the social environment (Eller, Cakal, & Sirlopu, 2016). However, not much known how these factors influence mental health characteristics of refugees (Beutel et al., 2016) and the motivational basis of their integration. 
The project aims to explore how social and political dynamics of the host countries and emerging social psychological dynamics of the refugee communities contribute toward mental health and successful integration refugees across generations. More specifically, the project focuses on the role of social identity as well as intra and intergroup process, e.g., informal social networks and social relations, in predicting mental health and integration of refugees to the host societies. 

Candidate Specification
You will be required to liaise with already existing contacts in various countries and you will be responsible for coordinating cross-country studies as part of your doctoral project. You will be able to work independently and take initiative when needed. You are expected to be comfortable with survey design and advanced statistics, e.g. Structural Equation Modelling and its cross, sectional, longitudinal, and multilevel applications. Alternatively, you will be able demonstrate your willingness to acquire them.

Candidates funded by the following agencies are encouraged to contact Dr Huseyin Cakal for an informal chat about their suitability.

• Turkish Ministry of Education (T.C. MİLLÎ EĞİTİM BAKANLIĞI)
• China Scholarship Council
• Mexican Foreign Scholarship Programme (CONACYT)
• Brasilian Foreign Scholarship Programme (Ciência Sem Fronteiras)

Current doctoral students (as lead supervisor)

• Halime Ünver “Interactive Effects of Media Effects and Social Identity on Social Change” Funding: Turkish Ministry of National Education (T.C. MİLLÎ EĞİTİM BAKANLIĞI). 
• Büşra Karaköse “Comparative Study of Motivational Basis of Integration among Refugees: Group versus Individual Resources and Obstacles” Funding: Turkish Ministry of National Education (T.C. MİLLÎ EĞİTİM BAKANLIĞI). 

Current MSc Students

• Louise Draisey "Solidarity and Mental Health among LGBT Groups"Funding: Self-Funded