Psychology

Dr Valerie A Braithwaite
Interdisciplinary research on how people use their capacities to adapt to challenging and threatening social environments, and how regulatory interventions by the state can boost or undermine such capability; the role that shared values, trust and hope play in building legitimacy for government authorities; in particular in the context of taxation

Dr Nathan B Harris

Dr Kristina L Murphy
Interviewing and surveying people who have been punished by government authorities, or involved in disputes with a regulatory authority; exploring (a) the emotions underlying resistance and defiance to authority (b) the causes under which widespread resistance to authority can be elicited and (c) how regulators might be able to better manage this type of resistance when they encounter it.