About Professor Lucy Johnston
Professor Johnston joined Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury as Tumu Tuarua Rangahau | Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research in 2025. Lucy is a highly accomplished university educator, researcher and leader having held leadership roles in tertiary education in New Zealand and Australia. She has served on various boards, including the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) and the University of Oxford Alumni Board.
She is known for innovative and enthusiastic commitment to facilitating and empowering the success of others, both students and academics, through creating a supportive environment and culture and providing development tools and opportunities that allow others to flourish. Lucy is strongly committed to the transformative power of education, for individuals and for society, and as a leader in tertiary education has an obligation to nurture and grow the next generation of scholars and leaders in society. The success of a university is evidenced by the success of its graduates and the impact of its research. As Te Tumu Tuarua she leads the University’s research efforts toward excellence in research outputs and research outcomes, having a positive social, economic and environmental impact on our local and global society. The unique requirement for Universities in Aotearoa to assume the responsibility to be “critic and conscience of society” is a responsibility, and privilege, that she takes very seriously, and which underpins her commitment to impactful research and to working to reduce disadvantage in access to education and access to research.
Lucy is also recognised for her long and strong commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion in education
Research discipline
Lucy is an internationally recognised experimental social psychologist, whose research focused on the non-verbal behaviour of individuals in social interactions, prejudice, bias and discrimination. She has also undertaken research on various aspects of tertiary education.
Qualifications
1987: BA (Hons) Experimental Psychology, St. John's College, University of Oxford, UK 1991: PhD. "Cognitive Processes in the Revision of Stereotypes”; University of Bristol, UK 2011: MSc Sport and Exercise Psychology, University of Staffordshire, UK
Fellowships, Professional Associations and Awards
2015: Funded as Visiting Scholar at North Carolina State University to present workshops on Training of Thesis Supervisors
2012/14/15/17/18: Invited attendee US College of Graduate Schools’ Global Summit
2009- Elected Fellow, Society Personality and Social Psychology
2009-2012: Editorial Board: Social Psychological and Personality Science 2009-2015: Editorial Board; European Journal of Social Psychology
2009-2011: President, Society of Australasian Social Psychology
2008: Ria McBride Research Award from New Horizons for Women Trust
2008: University of Canterbury Teaching Award
2006-2009: Associate Editor, European Journal of Social Psychology
2004: University of Connecticut Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies Visiting Professorship.
1996: Elected member of Society of Experimental Social Psychology
1989-1991: University of Bristol PhD Scholarship
1985: Elected to a Casberd Scholarship, St John’s College, University of Oxford
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles:
Philipp, M.C., Bernstein, M.J., Vanman, E.J., & Johnston, L. (2021). Social exclusion enhances affiliative signalling. Journal of Social Psychology, 161, 508-518
Groves, S.J., Picher, T.L., Melzer, T.R., Jordan, J., Carter, J.D., Malhi, G.S., Johnston, L., & Porter, R.J. (2018). Brain activation during processing of genuine facial emotion in depression: Preliminary findings. Journal of Affective Disorders, 225, 91096.
Collings, D., Garrill, A., & Johnston, L. (2018). Student application for special consideration for examination performance following a natural disaster. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 43, 260-271.
Johnston, L., Sampson, K., Comer, K., & Brogt, E. (2016). Using Doctoral Experience Survey Data to Support developments in Postgraduate Supervision and Support. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 11.
Schluter, P.J., & Johnston, L. (2017). In the spirit of William Georgetti: Scrutiny of a prestigious national scholarship selection process. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42, 316-328.
Johnston, L., & Schluter, P.J. (2017). And the winner is…: Inter-rater reliability among scholarship assessors. Studies in Higher Education, 42, 1736-1749.
Beaven, S., Wilson, T., Johnston, L., Johnston, D., & Smith, R. (2017). Role of Boundary Organizations after a disaster: New Zealand’s Natural Hazards Research Platform and the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence. Natural Hazards Review, 18.
Johnston, L., Wilson, T.M., & MacKenzie, A. (2016). Assisting PhD Completion Following a Natural Disaster. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 11, 367-382.
Beaven, S., Wilson, T., Johnston, L., Johnston, D., & Smith, R. (2016). Research engagement after disasters: Research coordination before, during and after the 2011-2012 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, New Zealand. Earthquake Spectra
Gruber, J., King, J., Hay, J., & Johnston, L. (2016). The hands, head and brow: A sociolinguistics study of Māori gesture. Gesture, 15, 1-36.
Sampson, K., Johnston, L., Brogt, E., & Comer, K. (2016). Developing evidence for action on the postgraduate experience: An effective local instrument to move beyond benchmarking. Higher Education Research and Development.
Beaven, S., Johnston, L., Wilson, T., Brogt, E., Blythe, J., Reugg, C., Letham, M., Gomez, C., Seville, E., Ogier, J., Hawker, C., & Lyttle, J. (2014). Risk and resilience factors reported by a New Zealand tertiary student population after the 4th September 2010 Darfield Earthquake. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 32, 375-404.
Johnston, L., McLellan, T, & McKinlay, A. (2014). (Perceived) size really does matter: Male dissatisfaction with penis size. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 15, 225-228.
Malinen, S., Willis, G.M., & Johnston, L. (2014). Might information media reporting of sexual offending influence community members’ attitudes towards sex offenders? Psychology, Crime & Law, 20. 535-552.
Latner, J.D., McLeod, G., O’Brien, K.S., and Johnston, L. (2013) The role of self-efficacy, coping and lapses in weight maintenance. Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 18, 359-366.
McLellan, T., Wilcke, J.C., Johnston, L., Watts, R., & Miles, L.K. (2012). Sensitivity to posed and genuine displays of happiness and sadness: An fMRI study. Neuroscience Letters, 7, 149-154.
Malinen, S., & Johnston, L. (2013). Workplace ageism: Discovering hidden bias. U Experimental Aging Research, 39, 445-465
Willis, G., Malinen, S., & Johnston, L. (2013). Demographic Differences in Public Attitudes towards Sex Offenders. Psychiatry, Psychology, & Law, 20, 230-247.
Douglas, K.D., Porter, R.J., & Johnston, L. (2012). Sensitivity to posed and genuine facial expressions of emotion in severe depression. Psychiatry Research, 196, 72-78.
Wallace, B., Johnston, L., & Trenberth, L. (2011). Bullying the boss: The prevalence of upward bullying behaviours. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Organizational Psychology, 3, 66-71.
Willis, G.M., & Johnston, L. (2012). Planning helps: The impact of release planning on subsequent re-entry experiences of child sex offenders. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 18, 194-208.
Mooney, M.F., Paton, D., de Terte, I., Johal, S., Karanci, A.N., Gardner, D., Collins, S., Glavovic, B., Huggins, T.J., Johnston, L., Chambers, R., & Johnston, D.M. 2011. Psychosocial recovery from disasters: A framework informed by evidence. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 40, 26-39.
Malinen, S., & Johnston (2011). Seeking a better work-life balance: Expectations and perceptions of work-related practices and attitudes of recent immigrants to New Zealand. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 20, 233-252.
Johnston, L., Carter, J., & McLellan, T. (2011). Don’t dwell on it: The impact of rumination on emotion sensitivity. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30, 506-530.
Johnston, L., Porter, R., MacKenzie, A., & Miles, B. (2010). Fluctuations in testosterone levels and person construal in male perceivers. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 15, 187-195.
McLellan, T., Johnston, L., Dalrymple-Alford, J., & Porter, R. (2010). Sensitivity to genuine versus posed emotion specified in facial displays. Cognition and Emotion, 24, 1277-1292.
Blampied, M., Johnston, L., Miles, L., & Liberty, K. (2010). Sensitivity to differences between enjoyment and non-enjoyment smiles in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. British Journal of Developmental Psychology.
Johnston, L., Miles, L., & Macrae, C.N. (2010). Why are you smiling at me?: Social functions of enjoyment and non-enjoyment smiles. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49, 107-127.
Lopresti-Goodman, S., Kallen, R.W., Richardson, M.J., Marsh, K.L., & Johnston, L. (2010). The influence of heightened body awareness on walking through apertures. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 557-570.
Marsh, K.L., Johnston, L., Richardson, M.J., & Schmidt, R.C. (2009). Hop off the mirror neuron bandwagon and join ours, it's less crowded! European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 1234-1235
Marsh, K.L., Johnston, L., Richardson, M.J., & Schmidt, R.C. (2009) Toward a Radically Embodied, Embedded Social Psychology. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 1217-1225.
McLellan, T.M., Johnston, L., Dalrymple-Alford, J., Porter, R. (2008). The recognition of facial expressions of emotion in Alzheimer’s disease: A review of findings. Acta Neuropsychiatric, 20, 236-250.
Johnston, L., Miles, L., & Macrae, C.N. (2008) Was that a man? Sex identification as a function of menstrual cycle and masculinity. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 1185-1194.
Brinsmead-Stockham, Johnston, L., Miles, L., Macrae, C.N. (2008). Female sexual orientation and menstrual influences on person perception. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 729-734.
Johnston, L., Miles, L., & McKinlay, A. (2008). A critical review of the Eyes Test as a measure of social-cognitive impairment. Australian Journal of Psychology, 60, 135-141.
Miles, L. & Johnston, L. (2007). Detecting happiness: Perceiver sensitivity to enjoyment and non-enjoyment smiles. Journal of Nonverbal Behaviour, 31, 259-275.
Zhang, B., Johnston, L., & Bagci Kilic, G. (2007) Assessing the reliability of self and peer rating in student group work. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education,33, 329-340.
Johnston, L., & Peace, V. (2007). Where did that car come from: Crossing the road when the traffic comes from an unfamiliar direction. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 39, 866-893.
Malinen, S., & Johnston, L. (2007). The influence of an equity statement on perceivers’ implicit and explicit associations between males and science. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 36, 18-24.
Johnston, L., & Miles, L. (2007). Attributions and stereotype moderation. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 36, 13-17.
Peace, V., Miles, L., & Johnston, L. (2006). It doesn’t matter what you wear: The impact of posed and genuine expressions of happiness on product evaluation. Social Cognition, 24, 137-169.
Yabar, Y., Johnston, L., Miles, L., & Peace, V. (2006). Implicit Behavioural Mimicry of an In-group and an Out-group Member. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 30, 97-113.
Holloway, R., & Johnston, L. (2006). Evaluating the Evaluators: Perceptions of interviewers by rejected job applicants as a function of interviewer and applicant sex. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 2635-2648.
Johnston, L. (2006). Reducing stereotype-based judgments: The impact of habitual stereotype use. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 35, 14-20.
The Global Deception Team (2006). A World of Lies. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 37, 60-74.
Blackburn, S., Johnston, L., Blampied, N.M., Popp, D., & Kallen, R. (2006). An application of Escape Theory to binge eating. European Review of Eating Disorders, 14, 23-31.
Johnston, L., Miles, L., Carter, C., & Macrae, C.N. (2005). Menstrual Influences on Person Perception: Male Sensitivity to Fluctuating Female Fertility. Social Cognition, 23, 279-290.
Richardson, M. & Johnston, L. (2005) Person Recognition from Dynamic Events: The Kinematic Specification of Individual Identity in Walking Style. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29, 25-44.
Johnstone, A. & Johnston, L. (2005) All Work and No Play: The Relationship between Organizational Climate and Workaholism. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 34, 181-188.
Rudge, A.D., Chase, J.G., Shaw, G.M., Lee, D.S., Wake, G.C., Hudson, I. & Johnston, L. (2005). Impact of Control on Agitation-Sedation Dynamics. Control Engineering Practice (CEP),13, 1139-1149.
Johnston, L., & Miles, L. (2004). Assessing contributions to group assignments. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 29. 751-768.
Johnston, L., Hudson, S.M., Richardson, M.J., Gunns, R.E., & Garner, M. (2004). Changing kinematics as a means of reducing vulnerability to attack. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 514-537.
Chase, J G, Rudge, A D, Shaw, G M, Wake, G C, Lee, D, Hudson, I and Johnston, L (2004). Modeling and Control of the Agitation-Sedation Cycle for Critical Care Patients. Medical Engineering and Physics, 26, 459-473.
Dzendrowskyj, P., Shaw, G., & Johnston, L. (2004). Effects of nursing industrial action on relatives of intensive care patients: A 16-month follow-up. New Zealand Medical Journal, 117.
Johnston, L., Arden, K., Mafcrae, C.N., & Grace, R.C. (2003). The need for speed: The menstrual cycle and personal construal. Social Cognition, 21, 89-100.
Simpson, G., Johnston, L., & Richardson, M.J. (2003). Road crossing in a virtual environment. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 35, 787-796.
Johnston, L. (2002). Behavioral mimicry and stigmatization. Social Cognition, 20,18-34.
Gunns, R.E., Johnston, L., & Hudson, S.M. (2002). Victim selection and kinematics: A point-light investigation of vulnerability to attack. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 26, 129-158.
McNab, S.M., & Johnston, L. (2002).The impact of equal opportunity statements in job advertisements on applicants’ perceptions of organizations. Australian Journal of Psychology, 54, 105-109.
Johnston, L., Bristow, M. & Love, N. (2000). An investigation of the link between attributional judgments and stereotype-based judgments. European Journal of Social Psychology , 30, 551-568.
Watkins, L. & Johnston, L. (2000). Screening job applicants: The impact of physical attractiveness and application quality. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 8, 76-84.
Johnston, L., Bulik, C.M., & Anstiss, V. (1999). Suppressing thoughts about chocolate. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26, 21-27.
Macrae, C.N. & Johnston, L. (1998). Help, I need somebody: Automatic action and inaction. Social Cognition, 16, 400-417.
Harvie, K., Marshall-McCaskey, J., & Johnston, L. (1998). Sex-based biases in occupational hiring decisions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28, 1700-1713.
Bruce, J., Curtis, H. & Johnston, L. (1998). Social identity in young New Zealand children. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 27, 21-27.
Johnston, L., Hudson, S.M., & Ward, T. (1997). The suppression of sexual thoughts by child molesters: A preliminary investigation. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 34, 303-319.
Ward, T., Hudson, S.M., Johnston, L., & Marshall, W.L. (1997). Cognitive distortions in sexual offenders: An integrative review. Clinical Psychology Review, 17, 497-507.
Johnston, L., Locke, V., Giles, L. & Rattray, K. (1997). Stereotypes: The good, the bad and the ugly. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 725-741.
Johnston, L., Ward, T. & Hudson, S.M. (1997). Deviant sexual thoughts: Mental control and the treatment of sexual offenders. Journal of Sex Research, 34, 121-130.
Johnston, L. (1996). Resisting change: Information seeking and stereotype change. European Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 799-826.
Ward, T., Bulik, C.M. & Johnston, L. (1996). Return of the suppressed: Mental control and bulimia nervosa. Behavioral Change, 13, 79-90.
Johnston, L. & Ward, T. (1996). Social cognition and sexual offending: A theoretical framework. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 8, 55-80.
Johnston, L. & Coolen, P. (1995). A dual processing approach to stereotype change. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 660-675.
Johnston, L. & Macrae, C.N. (1994). Changing social stereotypes: The case of the information seeker. European Journal of Social Psychology, 24, 581-592.
Johnston, L., Hewstone, M., Pendry, L. & Frankish, C. (1994). Cognitive models of stereotype change (4): Motivational and cognitive influences. European Journal of Social Psychology, 24, 237-266.
Johnston, L. & Hewstone, M. (1992). Cognitive models of stereotype change (3): Subtyping and the perceived typicality of disconfirming group members. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 28, 360-386.
Hewstone, M., Johnston, L. & Aird, P. (1992). Cognitive models of stereotype change (2): Perceptions of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. European Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 235-249.
Hewstone, M., Hantzi, A. & Johnston, L. (1991). Social categorisation and person memory: The pervasiveness of race as an organizing principle. European Journal of Social Psychology, 21,
Simon, B., Mlicki, P., Johnston, L., Caetano, A., Warawicki, M., van Knippenberg, A. & de Ridder, R. (1990). The effects of ingroup and outgroup homogeneity on ingroup favoritism, stereotyping and overestimation of relative ingroup size. European Journal of Social Psychology, 20, 519-523.
Johnston, R.J., Pattie, C.J. & Johnston, L.C. (1990). Great Britain's changing electoral geography: The flow-of-the-vote and spatial polarisation. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 81, 189-206.
Johnston, R.J., Pattie, C.J. & Johnston, L.C. (1989). The impact of constituency spending on the result of the 1987 British general election. Electoral Studies, 8, 143-155.
Johnston, R.J., Pattie, C.J. & Johnston, L.C. (1988). The role of ecological analysis in electoral geography: The changing pattern of labour voting in Great Britain 1983-1987. Geografiska Annaler, 70, 307-324.
Touyz, S.W., Beumont, P.J.V. & Johnston, L. (1986). Neuropsychological correlates of dieting disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5, 1025-1034
Book Chapters.
Berry, R. C. & Johnston, L. (2018). Big Data and Doctoral Research: Opportunities and Cautions. In Sim, K.N. (Ed.), Enhancing the Role of ICT in Doctoral Research Processes, pp. 67-84. IGI Global
Beaven, S., Wilson, T., Johnston, L., Johnston, D., & Smith, R. (2015). Learning from earthquake disasters. In Encyclopaedia of Earthquake Engineering.
Johnston, L. (2015). Building Interdisciplinary Degree Programs: Administrative and Organizational Issues. In Global Perspectives on Career Outcomes for Graduate Students. Report of the College of Graduate Schools Meeting, Newfoundland 2014.
Beaven, S., Wilson, T., Johnston, L., Johnston, D. & Smith, R. (2015) Learning From Earthquake Disasters. In Michael Beer, Ioannis A. Kougioumtzoglou, Edoardo Patelli, Ivan Siu-Kui Au (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering. Springer.
Johnston, L. (2013). It’s the way you walk: Kinematic specification of vulnerability to attack. In Johnson, K., & Shiffin, M. (Eds.), People watching: Social. Perceptual, and neurophysiological studies of body perception. Pp. 220-233. Oxford University Press.
Johnston, L. (2012). Institutional benefits of supporting career development for postgraduate students. In Global Perspectives on Career Outcomes for Graduate Students. Report of the College of Graduate Schools Meeting, Hong Kong 2011.
Johnston, L., Miles, L., & Macrae, C.N. (2012). Male or female?: An investigation of factors that modulate sex-categorization of strangers. In Balcetis, E. & Lassiter, G. D. (Eds.) (2010). The social psychology of visual perception. Pp. 103-122. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Miles, L. & Johnston, L. (2006). Not all smiles are created equal: An investigation of the implicit impact of posed and genuine smiles on the social perceiver. In C.M. Fletcher-Flinn & G.M. Haberman (Eds.), Cognition and Language: Perspectives from New Zealand, pp. 51-64.
Johnston, L. & Miles, L. (2003). Responding to the social world: Attributions and stereotype-based judgments. In J. Forgas, K. Williams & W. von Hippel (Eds.), Social judgments: Implicit and explicit processes, pp. 364-386. Cambridge University Press.
Locke, V. & Johnston, L. (2001). Stereotypes and prejudice: A social-cognitive approach. In M. Augoustinos and K. Reynolds (Eds.), Us and Them: Stereotyping and prejudice (pp. 107-125). London: Sage
Johnston, L. (1995). Attitudes and attitude change. In C. Meldrum and D. Messick (Eds.), Psychology for nurses and health care professionals (pp. 84-106). Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Johnston, L. & Hewstone, M. (1990). Intergroup contact: Social identity and social cognition. In D. Abrams & M.A. Hogg (Eds.), Social Identity Theory: Constructive and Critical Advances. Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Encyclopedia Entries.
Johnston, L. (2001). Discrimination, social. In Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences. Vol. 1 (pp. 395-396). Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, UK.
Johnston, L. (2001). Ingroup and Outgroup. In Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences. Vol. 1 (pp. 814-815). Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, UK.
Johnston, L. (2001). Stereotype. In Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences. Vol. II (pp. 1601- 1602). Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, UK.
Johnston, L. (2001). Stigma. In Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences. Vol. II (pp. 1602- 1604). Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, UK.
Published Conference Proceedings:
Full articles:
Zakharov, K., Mitrovic, A., & Johnston, L. (2008). Towards Emotionally-Intelligent Pedagogical Agents. Proceedings of International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Montreal, Canada, June 2008.
Zakharov, K., Mitrovic, A., & Johnston, L. (2007). Pedagogic agents trying on a Caring Mentor Role. In R. Luckin, K.A. Koedinger, & J. Greer (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence in Education: Building technology rich learning contexts that work, pp. 59-68. Proc. Of the 13th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Aducation (AIED). Marina Del Ray, CA, July 9-13th 2007.
Rudge, A D, Chase, J G, Shaw, G M, Johnston, L, and Wake, G C Modelling and Control of The Agitation-Sedation Cycle. Proc. of the 5th IFAC Symposium on Modelling and Control in Biomedical Systems, Melbourne, Australia, August 21-23 2003, pp. 89-95
