Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science

01/09/2026

After six years as Head of the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, Professor Liam Delaney is handing over the role to Professor Alex Gillespie. We're grateful to Liam for his leadership and delighted to welcome Alex as our new Head of Department.

Learn more ➡️

25/08/2026

⛓️ The Hidden Chain: How Poverty Gets Into Your Brain

Does poverty affect IQ, and if so, how and why? In a new post for the PBS blog, Margo Przybysz explores the relationship between poverty, stress and IQ test scores. Drawing on research into cortisol, memory and cognitive development, she examines how chronic stress and other environmental factors may influence measures of intelligence over time.

➡️ https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/psychologylse/2026/08/18/the-hidden-chain-how-poverty-gets-into-your-brain/

The blog was originally written as part of the LSE Summer School course ‘IR110: Foundations of Psychological Science’. It has been published with the permission of the author.

Does poverty affect IQ, and if so, how and why?In this blog post, originally written for the LSE Summer School course IR110: Foundations of Psychological Science, Margo Przybysz explores the relationship between poverty, stress and IQ test scores. Drawing on research into cortisol, memory and cognit...

28/07/2026

🎓 Some of the PBS team and our alumni speaker, Hibak Yusuf Mohamud, at last week's graduation ceremony. It was a joy to celebrate the achievements of our undergraduate, Executive MSc and PhD graduates and to hear Hibak's reflections on her own journey since leaving LSE.

16/07/2026

🏆️ Huge congratulations to Nikita, Atrina Oraee and Chen-Ta Sung, who have received 2026 LSE Class Teacher Awards in recognition of their outstanding contribution to teaching at LSE 🎉.

Special mention to Chen-Ta, who has achieved this recognition for the third year in a row 👏.

Congratulations also to Florian Burnat and Alina Velias, who were Highly Commended.

📷️ Nikita is pictured here in the middle.

Learn more about the awards: https://info.lse.ac.uk/staff/divisions/Eden-Centre/Education-awards/LSE-Class-Teacher-Awards

08/07/2026

"I’m interested in whether information has become, in some ways, a transient experience: something we consume, react to, and move on from, rather than something we hold onto, build on, or use."

💬 In our latest Spotlight interview, we spoke to Dr Yana Litovsky about her first year at LSE and her research on curiosity, information-seeking, misinformation, and how people value knowledge.

➡️ Read the interview: https://www.lse.ac.uk/pbs/news/spotlight-series/yana-litovsky

Read our Spotlight interview with Dr Yana Litovsky on curiosity, information-seeking, misinformation and how we value knowledge.

29/06/2026

Postgrads: have you taken the Postgraduate Survey yet?

The Postgraduate Survey is your chance to have your say and share feedback with our department and LSE. Telling us about your experiences and help shape teaching, support, and the student experience in our department.
The survey takes just 10 minutes to complete, and you could win a city break for two or £500 for taking part.
Take the survey - https://bit.ly/4urXc0L

28/05/2026

28/05/2026

🪧 How can we encourage more people to take part in climate action?

Dr Ganga Shreedhar and colleagues explored this question in collaboration with Extinction Rebellion through a large-scale social media experiment.

The team tested different combinations of messaging and imagery to see what prompted people to register interest in local climate talks. The campaign reached more than 350,000 Facebook users across Birmingham, Cardiff and Oxford.

The researchers found that:

✅️ Direct instructions outperform polite requests.
✅️ Images showing the real-world impacts of climate change are more effective than protest or diversity-based imagery.

Dr Shreedhar discusses the study and its implications in the latest issue of LSE's Research for the World online magazine:

How can social media move people from passive concern to collective climate action? LSE research analysing Extinction Rebellion posts shows why direct calls outperform softer messaging.

11/05/2026

🎓️ Interested in joining the Executive MSc Behavioural Science at LSE this September?

Applications are still open, and our next online information session is a great opportunity to find out if the programme is right for you.

Learn more about the curriculum, admissions and student experience.

📅 Thursday 21 May
🕐️ 1-2pm BST
📍 Zoom
✍️ Sign up: https://lse.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J_uyUEW0R86DPQQx_Kp19A
🔗 Learn more: https://www.lse.ac.uk/pbs/emsc

Taught by world-leading behavioural science experts, our Executive MSc Behavioural Science combines rigorous academic training with practical insights.

27/04/2026

📸 Meet the team behind PBS.

Our faculty, researchers and professional services staff recently came together for a group photo, reflecting the collaborative community that shapes psychological and behavioural science at LSE.