Dr Dale Shaffer-Morrison
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Email
dale.shaffer-morrison@essex.ac.uk -
Location
1.702B, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Through a social lens, my research has expanded on environmental psychology theories to understand individual and contextual factors that lead to pro-environmental and helping behaviours. Previous works have examined novel predictors of helping and well-being, including mindfulness, gratitude, awe, trust, and home environments. Other transdisciplinary work test psychological mechanisms by which conservation agriculture practices, and sustainable behaviours more broadly, can be encouraged. These projects integrate psychological predictors of conservation adoption into AI models of food-energy-water sustainability.
Qualifications
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PhD in Social-Personality Psychology University at Buffalo, State University of New York, (2021)
Appointments
University of Essex
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Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Essex (25/9/2023 - present)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Gratitude and Well-Being
Pro-environmental Decisions
Pro-social Behaviour
Current research
Pilot Watershed Project-Social Science Team
Increasing Motivation and Promoting Persistence in Farmer Conservation
Co-Investigator. Funded by Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (22-000489).
Meat Consumption in Latin America
”, Tiny Beam Fund, Principle Investigator Dr. Jonas Ludwig, TU Berlin
DRFEWS- Dynamic Regional Food, Energy, and Water Systems
Modeling the impact of social norms on conservation agriculture decisions
Anticipated gratitude and prosocial behaviour in close relationships
Not betting our farms on it: Negative dynamic social norms decrease interest in cooperation
Manuscript in preparation for Journal of Environmental Psychology. Expected submission December 2025.
Prosocial motivations can lead to more meat eating: A survey study in Latin America
Manuscript in preparation for Journal of Environmental Psychology. Expected submission Summer 2026.
Conferences and presentations
When there are human factors, there is psychology: The science of behaviour change and decision-making in conservation agriculture
Invited presentation, Plant Productivity Group Meeting, University of Essex, 3/12/2025
SPSP Virtual Early Career Mini-Conference
online conference, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 22/10/2025
Meat consumption among Latin American consumers: Predicted by social motivations, habit, and climate impact knowledge
Invited presentation, British Environmental Psychology Society, 4/7/2025
Meat consumption among Latin American consumers predicted by social motivations, habit, and climate impact knowledge
International Conference on Environmental Psychology, 17/6/2025
QTest: Testing hypotheses about probabilities
Statistics workshop, University of Essex, 22/5/2025
Sowing seeds for the future: Combining agronomic and social psychological constructs to the study of sustainable agriculture
Invited presentation, Engaging for Change Group Meeting, Harper Adam's University, 26/3/2025
Sowing seeds for the future: Thinking about the future predicts implementing more on-farm adaptations.
Cross University Research Event: People, Nature, and Climate, 26/2/2025
Sowing seeds for the future: Future time perspective, policy, and climate adaptation among farmers
Sustainability Preconference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 26/2/2025
Session Chair, “Demystifying Academic Jobs Outside of North America”,
Society for Personality and Social Psychology Session Chair, 22/2/2025
Weighing crops, sustainability, and resources: How norms can affect conservation agriculture adoption.
the Sustainability Preconference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 26/2/2024
Selectively collective: Social-psychological forces in cooperative agricultural solutions
Invited presentation, Annual ASABE Conference, Annual ASABE Conference, Omaha, United States, 10/7/2023
Selectively collective: Social-psychological forces in cooperative agricultural solutions.
Sustainability Psychology preconference for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 26/2/2023
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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The Social World (PS105)
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Introduction to Personal Development and Employability (PS117)
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Enhancing employability and career planning (PS417)
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Advanced employability skills and career progression (PS492)
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Thinking Green: Introduction to the Psychology of Pro-environmental Behaviour (PS517)
Publications
Publications (1)
Poulin, M., Ministero, L., Gabriel, S., Morrison, C. and Naidu, E., (2021). Minding your own business? Mindfulness decreases prosocial behavior for those with independent self-construals
Journal articles (16)
Shaffer-Morrison, C., Not betting our farms on it: Negative dynamic social norms decrease interest in cooperation.. Journal of Environmental Psychology
Shaffer-Morrison, C., Helping hands and guarded hearts: The motivational and behavioural effects of witnessing other’s suffering. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Shaffer-Morrison, C., If you’re thankful, then I feel welcome: Effects of anticipated gratitude on hedonic rewards of helping.. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Shaffer-Morrison, C., Generalized trust variability: An individual difference with implications for person perception and prosocial behavior.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Poulin, M., Ministero, L., Shaffer-Morrison, C., Finnerty, K., Mei, L., Zedomi, IN. and Gabriel, S., (2025). Trait Mindfulness and Prosocial Behavior: The Moderating Role of Self-Construals and Individualism. Mindfulness. 16 (4), 823-832
Shaffer-Morrison, CD., Dillman-Hasso, N. and Wilson, R., (2025). Sowing seeds for the future: Future time perspective and climate adaptation among farmers. The British Journal of Social Psychology. 64 (2), e12850-
Lim, D., Poulin, MJ., Shaffer-Morrison, CD., Ministero, LM. and Silver, RC., (2025). Investigating the role of adversity and benevolence beliefs in predicting prosociality.. Journal of Personality. 93 (3), 670-682
Shaffer-Morrison, C. and Wilson, R., (2024). The Nutrient Reduction Index: A parsimonious and continuous measure of conservation practice adoption among farmers. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 79 (1), 1-7
Dale Shaffer-Morrison, C. and Wilson, RS., (2024). Understanding drivers of local water quality perception in the Lake Erie Basin. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 50 (2), 102311-102311
Ashenfarb, M., Shaffer-Morrison, CD., Wilson, R., Marquart-Pyatt, S. and Epanchin-Niell, R., (2024). Social targeting conservation subsidies in the Western Lake Erie Basin.. Journal of Environmental Management. 371, 123103-123103
Wilson, RS., Shaffer-Morrison, CD. and Walpole, H., (2023). Climate-Exacerbated Impacts May Drive Maladaptive Action in Agriculture. Weather, Climate, and Society. 15 (2), 437-450
Soldo, C., Wilson, RS., Walpole, H. and Shaffer-Morrison, CD., (2022). Farmer willingness to implement constructed wetlands in the Western Lake Erie Basin. Journal of Environmental Management. 321, 115928-115928
Poulin, M., Ministero, L., Gabriel, S., Shaffer-Morrison, C. and Naidu, E., (2021). Minding Your Own Business? Mindfulness Decreases Prosocial Behavior for People With Independent Self-Construals. Psychological Science. 32 (11), 1699-1708
Gabriel, S., Naidu, E., Paravati, E., Morrison, CD. and Gainey, K., (2020). Creating the sacred from the profane: Collective effervescence and everyday activities. The Journal of Positive Psychology. 15 (1), 129-154
Morrison, CD., Poulin, MJ. and Holman, EA., (2018). Gender, genes, and the stress-buffering benefits of “home”: Evidence from two national U.S. studies. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 60, 89-99
Buffone, AEK., Poulin, M., DeLury, S., Ministero, L., Morrisson, C. and Scalco, M., (2017). Don't walk in her shoes! Different forms of perspective taking affect stress physiology. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 72, 161-168