Karen Douglas
School of Psychology
Keynes College
University of Kent
Canterbury CT2 7NP
United Kingdom
Home Page
Phone: +44 1227 824758
Fax: +44 1227 827030
I am broadly interested in social psychological aspects of communication. Some of my research focuses on the language we use when we talk about ourselves, other individuals and groups. Does our language reveal our biases and stereotypes? Are we able to control the expression of these beliefs? I am also interested in how what we say about others can reveal important information (both good and bad) about ourselves. Some of my other work has investigated the effects of anonymity on Internet behaviour, in particular examining people’s responses to online ‘hate’ messages. Finally, I also conduct research on susceptibility to persuasion (e.g., advertising), beliefs about one’s own ‘invulnerability’ to persuasion, and the power of conspiracy theories to influence our attitudes about social events.
 Journal Articles:
- Douglas, K. M., & McGarty, C. (2001). Identifiability and self-presentation: Computer-mediated communication and intergroup interaction. British Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 399-416.
- Douglas, K. M., McGarty, C., Bliuc, A. M., & Lala, G. (2005). Understanding cyberhate: Social competition and social creativity in on-line White-supremacist groups. Social Science Computer Review, 23, 68-76.
- Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (in press). By their words ye shall know them: Language abstraction and the likeability of describers. European Journal of Social Psychology.
- Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2008). Could you mind your language? An investigation of communicators’ ability to inhibit linguistic bias. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 27, 123-129.
- Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2008). The hidden impact of conspiracy theories: Perceived and actual impact of theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana. Journal of Social Psychology, 148, 210-221.
- Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2006). When what you say about others says something about you: Language abstraction and inferences about describers' attitudes and goals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 500-508.
- Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2004). Right about others, wrong about ourselves? Actual and perceived self-other differences in resistance to persuasion. British Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 585-603.
- Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2003). Effects of communication goals and expectancies on language abstraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 692-696.
- Elder, T. J., Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2006). Perceptions of social influence when messages favour "us" versus "them": A closer look at the social distance effect. European Journal of Social Psychology, 36, 353-365.
- Sutton, R. M., Douglas, K. M., Wilkin, K., Elder, T. J., Cole, J. M., & Stathi, S. (2008). Justice for whom, exactly? Beliefs in justice for the self and various others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 528-541.
- Sutton, R. M., Elder, T. J., & Douglas, K. M. (2006). Reactions to internal and external criticism of outgroups: Social convention in the intergroup sensitivity effect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 563-575.
Other Publications:
- Douglas, K. M. (2008). Antisocial communication on electronic mail and Internet. In E. A. Konijn, M. A. Tanis, S. Utz & S. Barnes (Eds.), Mediated interpersonal communication (pp. 200-214). London: Routledge.
- Douglas, K. M. (2007). Psychology, discrimination and hate groups on-line. In A. Joinson, K. McKenna, U. Reips, & T. Postmes (Eds.), Oxford handbook of Internet Psychology (pp. 155-164). Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.
- Douglas, K. M., Sutton, R. M., & McGarty, C. (2008). Strategic language use in interpersonal and intergroup communication. In Y. Kashima, K. Fiedler, & P. Freytag (Eds.), Stereotype dynamics: Language-based approaches to stereotype formation, maintenance, and transformation (pp. 189-212). Mahwah, NJ, USA: Laurence Erlbaum.
- Wigboldus, D. H. J., & Douglas, K. M. (2007). Language, expectancies and intergroup relations. In K. Fiedler (Ed.), Social communication (pp. 79-106). New York: Psychology Press.
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