Dr Aífe Hopkins-Doyle
Academic and research departments
School of Psychology, Social Emotions and Equality in Relations (SEER) research group, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.About
Biography
Dr Aífe Hopkins-Doyle is a Lecturer in Social Psychology. Her research interest is in the social-cognitive and ideological factors influencing meta-perception and related attitudes, with a particular focus on gender relations, sexuality, political actions and social issues.
She gained her BSc degree in Psychology (Hons) at the National University of Ireland at Maynooth (2008-2012) before moving to the University of Kent to complete a Master’s degree in Social and Applied Psychology (2013-2014) and a PhD in Social Psychology (2015-2019). Her PhD research examined the role of warmth in misperceptions of benevolent sexism as negatively related to hostile sexism and other known correlates (e.g. opposition to gender equality measures).
Upon completion of her PhD, Aífe was a Lecturer in Social and Organisational Psychology at University of Kent (2018-2020). She joined the School of Psychology at University of Surrey in April 2020.
In addition to her research, she enjoys teaching and working on initiatives that promote greater social diversity and inclusion in academia. She is a member of the Athena Swan Self Assessment Team in the School of Psychology.
Areas of specialism
ResearchResearch interests
The overarching theme of my research is understanding the sense that people make of gender relations, investigating the socio-cognitive and ideological factors, which influence the accuracy of our judgements about gender (e.g. personal and social identity) and gender relations (e.g. sexism, feminism, intimate relationships).
Current research projects/questions include:
- Benevolent sexism: do people accurately understand benevolent sexism as prejudice? How do our personal perceptions of men (and women) who endorse benevolent sexism influence our identification of prejudice?
- Feminism and stereotyping: how accurate are stereotypes about feminists and their attitudes? what factors influence our beliefs about feminists' attitudes (i.e. meta-perceptions)? Who can identify as feminist? Feminist ideology including radical and women of colour feminism.
- Collective action: what socio-ecological and identity factors influence engagement and participation in collective and political actions both online (e.g. #MeToo) and offline (e.g. protest marches).
- Sexual exchange in intimate relationships: Do heterosexual people endorse beliefs about who exchanges sex in relationships for other benefits (i.e. commitment, intimacy, gifts)? How does this belief relate to modern dating practices (e.g. sugar baby-sugar daddy)?
I am interested in supervising students on projects in these areas. Please send me an email if interested.
Research interests
The overarching theme of my research is understanding the sense that people make of gender relations, investigating the socio-cognitive and ideological factors, which influence the accuracy of our judgements about gender (e.g. personal and social identity) and gender relations (e.g. sexism, feminism, intimate relationships).
Current research projects/questions include:
- Benevolent sexism: do people accurately understand benevolent sexism as prejudice? How do our personal perceptions of men (and women) who endorse benevolent sexism influence our identification of prejudice?
- Feminism and stereotyping: how accurate are stereotypes about feminists and their attitudes? what factors influence our beliefs about feminists' attitudes (i.e. meta-perceptions)? Who can identify as feminist? Feminist ideology including radical and women of colour feminism.
- Collective action: what socio-ecological and identity factors influence engagement and participation in collective and political actions both online (e.g. #MeToo) and offline (e.g. protest marches).
- Sexual exchange in intimate relationships: Do heterosexual people endorse beliefs about who exchanges sex in relationships for other benefits (i.e. commitment, intimacy, gifts)? How does this belief relate to modern dating practices (e.g. sugar baby-sugar daddy)?
I am interested in supervising students on projects in these areas. Please send me an email if interested.
Teaching
- PSY3120/PSYM146 - The Social Psychology of Gender (Module Convenor)
- PSY2016 - Social Psychology with Research Methods 2 (Contributing Lecturer)
- PSYM093 - Fundamental Concepts in Social Psychology with Research Methods (Contributing Lecturer)
Publications
Highlights
Hopkins-Doyle, A., Sutton, R. M., Douglas, K. M., & Calogero, R. M. (2019). Flattering to deceive: Why people misunderstand benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 116(2), 167–192. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000135
Within most western countries, gendered proposal, surname, and wedding traditions remain widely endorsed. A previous study indicated that endorsement of proposal and surname traditions is associated with higher levels of benevolent sexism (BS) in university students in the USA. Three studies (N = 367) extended research to adolescents (dating age) and 30-year-olds (typical first-time marriage age). For the first time, these studies examined gendered wedding traditions (e.g., father walking a bride down the aisle). Different combinations of ambivalent sexism predicted participants' opinions about surname change after marriage and the choice of children's surnames. In younger adolescents (11-18; 56 boys, 88 girls, 68.1% White years), hostile sexism (HS) predicted endorsement of surname change, whereas benevolent sexism predicted endorsement in 16-to 18-year-olds (58 boys, 84 girls, 76.8% White) and 30-year-olds (37 men, 44 women, 74.1% White). In adolescent samples, both BS and HS predicted endorsement of patronymic traditions for children, whereas only BS did in the adult sample. The findings suggest that different types of sexism predict traditional beliefs in specific age groups.