BIOGRAPHY
Before starting at the University of Essex in August 2012, I completed a Bsc in Psychology at the University of Kent. My final year project was supervised by Anat Bardi who then became my PhD supervisor at Royal Holloway, University of London. My PhD was an extension of my final year project and focused primarily on the effects of 'getting ahead' and 'getting along' behaviours on happiness.
RESEARCH OVERVIEW
I'm currently working on an exciting multi-disciplinary project funded by the EPSRC, referred to as project DANCER (Digital Agent Networking for Customer Energy Reduction). This project aims to reduce energy consumption in households using the latest innovative technology. Initially my role in project will involve collecting baseline data on household energy use to inform the design of the energy reduction tool. Later in the project, I will be evaluating the effectiveness of the energy reduction tool and people’s reactions to it. As part of the project I'm also interested in addressing research questions such as: why is the link between pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviours so weak? What are the characteristics of "green people"? How aware are people of their energy consumption? How can individuals be effectively motivated to reduce their current and future energy consumption? More information about the DANCER project can be found on the team's blog at: http://dancerproject.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/project-launch/
PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR Riccardo Russo
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Buchanan, K. E., & Bardi, A. (2010). Acts of kindness and acts of novelty affect life satisfaction. The Journal of Social Psychology, 150(3), 235–237.
Submitted Papers
Buchanan, K.E. & Bardi, A., & John, O.P. (2012). The Roles of Values, Behavior, and Value-Behavior Fit in the Relation of Agency and Communion to Well-Being. Submitted to Journal of Personality in August.
Buchanan, K.E. & Bardi, A. (2012). Agency and Communion: A Broad Theoretical Framework for Increasing Well-Being. Submitted to Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin in July.
Bardi, A., Buchanan, K. E., Goodwin, R., Slabu, L., & Robinson, M. P. (2012). Value Stability and Change During a Self-Chosen Life Transition: Evidence for Self-Selection or Socialization? Submitted to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in July.
Bardi, A., Viki, G. T., Buchanan, K. E., & Choudhury, D. (2012). Values Moderate the Link between Ingroup Identification and Prejudice. Submitted to the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
Conference Presentations
Buchanan, K.E., & Bardi, A. (2012, July). Which way to happiness; ‘getting ahead’ or ‘getting along’? Paper presented at the 16th European Conference on Personality, Trieste, Italy.
Buchanan, K. E., & Bardi, A. (2011, September). Which way to happiness; ‘getting ahead’ or ‘getting along’? Paper presented at the British Psychological Society Social Psychology Section Conference, Winchester, United Kingdom.
Buchanan, K. E., & Bardi, A. (2010, September). Does volunteering increase happiness? Depends on your personality. Poster presented at the British Psychological Society Social Psychology Section Conference, Winchester, United Kingdom.
