Department of
Tel: +44
(0)1792-295120
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(0)1792-295679
Potted History
I graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London in
1990. I then worked in the NHS for some
years before deciding to go back into academia.
I gained my PhD from Swansea University
in 1998. I went on to do postdoctoral
research at the
Current Research Interests
Over the past few years, I have been
involved in research projects encompassing a range of issues relevant to both
health and social psychology.
Work on stress and coping has formed a
significant part of my research activity.
This has focused on two issues: firstly, the association between ways of
coping and adjustment to illness, and secondly, how emotion-related appraisals
are linked to choice of coping strategies.
I also have an interest in process models
and how these might be applied to understanding behaviour motivation. There are two strands to this work. The first is whether and how cognitive and
evaluative processes might be related to health behaviour. As such, recent and on-going work has focused
on associations between behaviour and attitudes (both conscious and automatic),
visual attention, and memory. The second
strand examines underlying mechanisms involved in the processing of
socially-relevant information, and uses neural networks for modelling attitudes
and allied constructs.
Additionally, I have recently begun
looking at perceptions of the self, leading to an on-going project examining
computer gamers' on-line profiles.
Publications
Lowe, R. (In submission). A self-schema
supports memory processing of health-behaviour information when distracted.
Calitri, R., Lowe, R., Eves, F. F. & Bennett, P. (2009). Associations between visual
attention, implicit and explicit attitude and behaviour for physical activity. Psychology
& Health, 24, 1105 — 1123.
Author Posting. (c) Taylor & Francis, 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It
is posted here by permission of Taylor & Francis for personal use, not for
redistribution. The definitive version
was published in Psychology & Health, Volume 24 Issue 9, November
2009.
doi:10.1080/08870440802245306 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08870440802245306)
Porter, A., Button, L., Duff,
K., Edwards, A., Evans, A., Lowe, R.,
Snooks, H. & Watkins, A. (2008).
Understanding How the Public Chooses to Use Unscheduled Care
Services. Report for the Wales Office
for Research and Development for Health and Social Care (WORD) on behalf of the
Welsh Assembly Government's Directorate of Performance and Operations.
Hewlett,S., Cockshott,
Z., Almeida, C., Richards, P., Lowe, R.,
Bennett, P. & Lowe, R. (2008). Emotions and their cognitive precursors:
Responses to spontaneously identified stressful events among hospital
nurses. Journal of Health Psychology, 13, 537-546.
Lowe, R., Cockshott, Z.,
Author Posting. (c) Taylor & Francis, 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It
is posted here by permission of Taylor & Francis for personal use, not for
redistribution. The definitive version
was published in Psychology & Health, Volume 23 Issue 2, February
2008.
doi:10.1080/14768320601139160 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14768320601139160)
Bennett, P., Williams,
D., Chestnutt, I, G., Hood, K. & Lowe,
R. (2008). A reaction-time study of
social, health, and personal attributions in relation to fluorosed teeth. Psychology,
Health & Medicine, 13, 75-86.
Williams, D. M.,
Chestnutt,
Williams, D. .M.,
Chestnutt,
Lowe, R., Bennett, P., Walker, I., Milne, S. & Bozionelos,
G. (2003). A
connectionist implementation of the Theory of Planned Behaviour: Association of
beliefs with exercise intention. Health
Lowe, R., Vedhara, K., Bennett, P. et al. (2003).
Emotion-related primary and secondary appraisals, adjustment and coping:
Associations in women awaiting breast disease diagnosis.
Lowe,
R. & Bennett, P. (2003). Exploring
coping reactions to work-stress: Application of an appraisal theory. Journal of Occupational and Organizational
Bennett, P. Lowe, R. &
Honey, K. (2003). Appraisals, core relational themes, and
emotions: A test of consistency of reporting and their associations. Cognition and Emotion, 17, 511-520.
Lowe, R., Eves, F. & Carroll, D.
(2002). The influence of affective and instrumental
beliefs on exercise intentions and behaviour: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Social
Bennett, P.,
Lowe, R., Matthews, V., Dourali, M. & Tattersall, A. (2001).
Stress in nurses: Coping, managerial support and work demand. Stress and Health, 17, 55-63.
Lowe, R., Norman, P. & Bennett, P.
(2000). Coping, emotion
and perceived health following myocardial infarction: Concurrent and predictive
associations.
Kennedy, P., Marsh N., Lowe,
R., Grey., N., Short E., and Rogers B. (2000). A longitudinal analysis of psychological
impact and coping strategies following spinal cord injury.
Bennett, P., Lowe, R., Mayfield, T.
& Morgan, M. (1999). Coping, mood and behaviour following
myocardial infarction: Results of a pilot study. Coronary Healthcare: An International
Journal, 3, 192-198.
Bennett, P.,
Mayfield, T., Norman, P., Lowe, R. & Morgan, M. (1999).
Affective and social-cognitive predictors of behavioural change
following first myocardial infarction.
Kennedy, P., Lowe, R.,
Grey, N. & Short. E. (1995).
Traumatic spinal cord injury and psychological impact: A cross-sectional
analysis of coping strategies. British
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 34, 627-639.
Funding
Associations between physical activity,
implicit attitude, and visual attention.
R. Lowe, P. Bennett, & F.
Eves. £44,213 over 1 year. Awarded by the Economic & Social Research
Council (ESRC) 22nd April 2005.
Patient education in rheumatoid arthritis:
Measuring self-efficacy and predicting change. S. Hewlett, Z. Cockshott, R.
Lowe & J. Kirwan. £54,708 over 3
years (Ref: H0632). Awarded by the
Arthritis Research Campaign 3rd July 2001.