Risk; risk perception; risk attitudes; cyberpsychology; judgment and decision-making

Dr Piers Fleming is an Associate Professor on the BSc Psychology programme. He joined the school in 2006. Dr Fleming’s work is focussed upon behaviour and judgments under uncertainty, including studies on risk assessment and perception. He is a Chartered Psychologist (C.Psychol.) of the British Psychological Society (BPS). Dr Fleming is an active researcher with expertise on risk judgements and decision-making and also works in the area of behavioural economics.

Dr Fleming has a BSc (Hons) from the University of Leeds, and an MSc and PhD in Psychology from the University of Lancaster.

Indicative Publications

• Fleming, P., Watson, S. J., Patouris, E., Bartholomew, K. J., & Zizzo, D. J. (2017). Why do people file share unlawfully? A systematic review, meta-analysis and panel study. Computers in Human Behavior, 72, 535-548. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.02.014

• Watson, S. J., Zizzo, D. J., & Fleming, P. (2016). Risk, Benefit, and Moderators of the Affect Heuristic in a Widespread Unlawful Activity: Evidence from a Survey of Unlawful File-Sharing Behavior. Risk Analysis, 37(6), 1146-1156. DOI: 10.1111/risa.12689

• Watson, S.J., Zizzo, D.J., and Fleming, P. (2015) Determinants of Unlawful File Sharing: A Scoping Review, PLoS ONE, 10(6) e0127921.DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127921

• Fleming, P., and Zizzo, D. J. (2014). A Simple Stress Test of Experimenter Demand Effects. Theory and Decision, 78, 219-231. DOI:10.1007/s11238-014-9419-2 (Open Access).

Visit Dr Fleming's website.
 

Keywords: Risk; risk perception; risk attitudes; cyber-psychology 

Dr Fleming's research focuses upon individuals' perceptions of risks and decision making. The goal is to extend existing theoretical work into real world applications and to examine the mechanisms at work. This includes considering the emotional and rational processes involved in risk perception and decision making; to examine the interplay between the two types of system and their consequences for judgements and biases. Dr Fleming's research uses a range of quantitative measures and methods, including psychophysical, experimental (behavioural), and correlational methods to achieve these aims.

Dr Fleming believes in a multi-method approach to gain convergent evidence to address theoretically interesting psychological processes. He has experienced the benefits of inter-disciplinary collaboration and sees the value in perspectives offered from outside psychology as a complement to those from within. His aim is to better understand how cognition, emotion and individual differences contribute to decisions that people make and to dealing with risk in particular.

For more information about Dr Fleming’s research and for a full publication list, please visit www.pfleming.co.uk. 

BSc Psychology

Year 1

Research Methods and Statistics Teaching

Year 3

Final year project supervision
Psychology of Risk 

Undergraduate Projects: Final Year Research Project

Risk and Decision-Making projects

There are several ongoing projects which Dr Fleming is studying which lend themselves to being part of an undergraduate dissertation. Students will be supported to learn research skills, develop psychological tools and implement sound research designs. Students will also collect and analyse data before submitting a research report.

Current research topics include: 

• Individual Differences in Risk perception/behaviour
• Emotional processing and Risk perception/behaviour
• Characteristics of successful Risk communication
• Online or digital hazards and decision-making

Master's Supervision Topics:

• Risk perception and Artificial Intelligence
• Artificial Intelligence interaction effects on judgment and decision-making

Contact Dr Piers Fleming if you are interested in pursuing a project in one of these areas.

Teaching Director