BIOGRAPHY

Mitch obtained his Ph.D. in Social Psychology in the summer of 2007 from the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He then completed a 2-year Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Western Ontario.

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

My research focuses on the psychology of justice. Specifically, I am interested in the various ways the justice motive appears in people’s lives. Within this larger framework, I have examined how a concern for justice and deservingness can influence immanent justice reasoning, self-defeating beliefs and behaviours, temporal discounting, and gambling.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Callan, M. J., Harvey, A. J., Dawtry, R. J., & Sutton, R. M. (in press). Through the looking glass: Long-term goal focus increases immanent justice reasoning. British Journal of Social Psychology.

Callan*, M. J., Ferguson*, H. J., & Bindemann, M. (in press). Eye movements to audio-visual scenes reveal expectations of a just-world. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

1. *Contributed equally
   

Callan, M. J., Dawtry, R. J., & Olson, J. M. (2012). Justice motive effects in ageism: The effects of a victim’s age on observer perceptions of injustice and punishment judgments. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 1343-1349.

Callan, M. J., Shead, N. W., & Olson, J. M. (2011). Personal relative deprivation, delay discounting, and gambling. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 955-973. (link to paper)

Callan, M. J., Sutton, R. & Dovale, C. (2010). When deserving translates into causing: The effects of cognitive load on immanent justice reasoning. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.  46, 1097-1100. (link to Paper)

Callan, M. J., Kay, A. C., Olson, J. M., Brar, N., & Whitefield, N. (2010). The effects of priming legal concepts on perceived trust and competitiveness, self-interested attitudes, and competitive behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 325-335. (link to paper)

Callan, M. J., Kay, A. C., Davidenko, N., & Ellard, J. H. (2009). The effects of justice motivation on memory for self- and other-relevant events. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 614-623. (link to paper).

Callan, M. J., Shead, N. W., & Olson, J. M. (2009). Foregoing the labor for the fruits: The effect of just world threat on the desire for immediate monetary rewards. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 246-249. (link to paper)

Callan, M. J., Ellard, J. H., Shead, N. W., & Hodgins, D. C. (2008). Gambling as a search for justice: Examining the role of personal relative deprivation in gambling urges and gambling behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1514-1529. (link to paper)

Shead, N. W., Callan, M. J., & Hodgins, D. C. (2008). Probability discounting among gamblers: Differences across problem gambling severity and affect-regulation tendencies. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 536-541.(link to paper)

Kay, A. C., Gaucher, D., & Napier, J., Callan, M. J., & Laurin, K. (2008). God and the government: Testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 18-35.(link to paper)

Callan, M. J., Powell, N. G., & Ellard, J. H. (2007). The consequences of victim’s physical attractiveness on reactions to injustice: The role of observers’ belief in a just world. Social Justice Research, 4, 433-456.(link to paper)

Callan, M. J., Ellard, J. H., & Nicol, J. E. (2006). The belief in a just world and immanent justice reasoning in adults. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1646-1658. (link to paper)

Fouts, G., Callan, M., Lawson, A., & Piasentin, K. (2006). Demonizing in children’s television cartoons and Disney animated films. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 37, 15-23.(link to paper)

Book chapters

Callan, M. J., & Kay, A. C. (2011). Associations between law, competitiveness, and the pursuit of self-interest. In J. D. Hanson (Ed.). Ideology, Psychology, and Law (pp. 183-218). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Callan, M. J., & Ellard, J. H. (2010). Beyond victim derogation and blame: Just world dynamics in everyday life. In D. R. Bobocel, A. C. Kay, M. P. Zanna, & J. M. Olson (Eds.). The psychology of justice and legitimacy: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 11, pp. 53 - 77). New York: Psychology Press.

RECENT GRANT FUNDING

Callan, M. J., & Kay, A. C. (2011/2012). Justice Motive Effects in Self-Punishment. Economic and Social Research Council, £99,020 (fEC).

Olson, J. M., Callan, M. J., & Shead, N. W. (2010/2011). The Effects of Gambling Advertisements on Personal Relative Deprivation and Gambling. Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, Level II Award, 37,000 CAD (~ £22,000).

Callan, M. J. Ageism and the Concern for Justice. (2010/11). British Academy, £7,162.

Callan, M. J., Olson, J. M., & Shead, N. W. (2008/2009). Personal Relative Deprivation, Delay Discounting, and Gambling. Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, Level I Award, 9,717 CAD (~ £6,000)