BIOGRAPHY

Rick initially studied psychology for his BSc at University College, Cork, in Ireland. He then completed a MA at University College Dublin on nonverbal behaviour in 1996. After a brief sojourn for fieldwork in The Gambia, Rick commenced a PhD at the State University of New York, Binghamton, in the US. His PhD examined social norms from an evolutionary perspective, working with David Sloan Wilson. After completing his PhD in 2003, he moved to Essex to work with Marco Perugini on implicit attitudes before moving to the University of Kent to work with Mark van Vugt on leadership. He joined the psychology group at Sheffield Hallam University as a lecturer in 2007 before moving to the University of Essex in August 2009.

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

Topics of interest:

   * evolutionary psychology
   * altruism
   * morality
   * prosocial behaviour
   * applications of social cognition techniques to evolutionary questions
   * leadership and group functioning
   * multilevel selection

Broadly, my research interest is in studying human behavior as a functionally adaptive system, that is, evolutionary psychology--the study of human behaviour and cognition from an evolutionary perspective. My research topics have been diverse, including leadership, attitudes, social norms, altruism, social policing, nonverbal behavior and animal behavior. I adopt an integrative approach, drawing on research and theory in evolutionary psychology, primatology, animal behavior, behavioral ecology, and social psychology.

I am particularly interested in within-group dynamics and interactions. My current research focuses on questions that relate to group functioning within the parameters of pressures for self-oriented behaviour. Whew! What does that mean? Most evolutionary psychologists assume that humans are evolved to be reproductively selfish--they argue that we act in ways that maximise our reproductive success ( genetically selfish). The only exception to this is if we can maximise our kin's reproductive success by being altruistic toward them (which can mean more of our kin-altruism genes getting into the next generation than if we just try to achieve that ourselves!).

However, some evolutionists think that we are also willing to be altruistic to others (non-kin) in our groups, within certain conditions. In the last decade, a substantial body of work has emerged from a number of disciplines (particularly psychology and economics, complemented by theory from biology and fieldwork from anthropology) that suggests that humans are fundamentally cooperative. That is, we are willing to be altruistic to people in our own groups, such as friendship circles or communities, even if we won't be compensated (think, volunteering for a psychology experiment).

So I am interested in looking at when we will be altruistic to non-kin, and why this happens. Being altruistic can take many forms, so this can take in many behaviours if the behaviours benefit the relevant group. Along these lines, I have done, and am doing, work looking at whether being watched is necessary for cooperation, whether we prefer to help family over friends, behaviourally or cognitively, and whether social norms are something to which we are evolved to respond.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Barkow, J.H., O’Gorman, R., & Rendell, L. (2012). Are the new mass media subverting cultural transmission? Review of General Psychology, 16, 121-133. download.pdf

Perugini, M., Conner, M., & O’Gorman, R. (2011). Automatic activation of individual differences: A test of the gatekeeper model in the domain of spontaneous helping. European Journal of Personality, 25, 465–476. download.pdf

O’Gorman, R. (2010). Terrorism through the lens of evolutionary psychology. In A. Silke (Ed.), The Psychology of Counter-Terrorism (Cass Series on Political Violence). Oxford: Routledge. download.pdf

O'Gorman, R., Henrich, J., & van Vugt, M. (2009). Constraining free-riding in public goods games: Designated solitary punishers can sustain human cooperation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 276, 323-329. download pdf

Van Vugt, M., Johnson, D.D.P., Kaiser, R.B., & O’Gorman, R. (2008). Evolution and the Social Psychology of Leadership: The Mismatch Hypothesis. In C.L. Hoyt, G. R. Goethals, & D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Leadership at the crossroads: Psychology and leadership (Vol. 1, pp. 262-282). Westport, CT: Praeger. download pdf

O'Gorman, R., Wilson, D.S., & Miller, R.R. (2008). An evolved cognitive bias for social norms. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29, 71-78. download pdf

O’Gorman, R., Sheldon, K., & Wilson, D.S. (2008). For the good of the group? Exploring group-level evolutionary adaptations using Multilevel Selection Theory. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 12, 17-26. download pdf

Wilson, D.S., van Vugt, M., & O’Gorman, R. (2008). Multilevel selection and major evolutionary transitions: Implications for psychological science. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 6-9. download pdf

Conner, M., Perugini, M., O’Gorman, R, Ayres, K., & Prestwich, A. (2007). Relations between implicit and explicit measures of attitudes and measures of behavior: Evidence of moderation by individual difference variables. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 1727-1740. download pdf

Richetin, J., Perugini, M., Prestwich, A., and O’Gorman, R. (2007). The IAT as a predictor of spontaneous food choice: The case of fruits versus snacks. International Journal of Psychology, 42, 166-173. download pdf

Perugini, M., O’Gorman, R., & Prestwich, A. (2007). An ontological test of the IAT: Self-activation can increase predictive validity. Experimental Psychology, 54, 134-147. download pdf

Eldakar, O.T., Wilson, D.S., & O’Gorman, R. (2006). Emotions and actions associated with altruistic helping and punishment. Evolutionary Psychology, 4, 274-286. download pdf

O’Gorman, R., Wilson, D.S. and Miller, R.R. (2005) Altruistic punishing and helping differ in sensitivity to relatedness, friendship, and future interactions. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26, 375-387. download pdf

Wilson, D.S. and O’Gorman, R. (2003). Emotions and actions associated with norm-breaking events. Human Nature, 14, 277-304. download pdf

O’Gorman, R. (1999). Sex differences in spatial abilities: An evolutionary explanation. Irish Journal of Psychology, 20, 95-106. download pdf

BOOK REVIEWS

O’Gorman, R. (2008). Review of Evolution and the Social Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and Social Cognition. Human Ethology Bulletin, 23, 3-5. download pdf

O'Gorman, R. (2005). Review of The Paradoxical Primate by Colin Talbot. Human Nature Review, 5, 37-40. download pdf