FACULTY STAFF

Profile

Qualifications

PhD Leeds
MSc in Social and Applied Psychology, University of Kent at Canterbury
BSc in Psychology, University of Plymouth

Experience

My general research interests focus on the application of psychological theory in personal and organisational contexts, with particular reference to decision making. My main current research activity is in four areas:
1) Aspects of individual decision making: I am currently examining the effects of increased choice on decision behaviour in personal, consumer and business decisions. Another area of interest concerns patients' understanding of medical risk information.
2) Strategic decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty: I work with a number of colleagues using cognitive mapping techniques that seek to capture the way individuals mentally represent decision problems, with particular reference to managerial and business decisions.
3) Individual career decision making and planning: I am especially interested in the link between career choice and issues of work-life balance and performance measurement.
4) The relationship between personal and social identity and behaviour at work: I examine how the way individuals categorise themselves and others as members of social groups can have an important impact on behaviours such as the treatment of socially deviant colleagues, group creativity and reactions to equal opportunities policies.

To visit the Centre for Decision Research (CDR) web site click here

Teaching

People in Organisations, Undergraduate Level 2
Organisational Behaviour, Undergraduate Level 1
Understanding Organisations, MSc Management, core module
Supervision of MBA and MSc dissertations

Publications

Book Chapters

Abrams, D, Marques, J., Randsley de Moura, G., Hutchinson, P. & Bown, N. J. (2003). The maintenance of entiativity: A subjective group dynamics approach. To appear in V. Y. Yzerbyt, C.M. Judd & O. Corneille (Eds) The Psychology of Group Perception: Contributions to the Study of Homogeneity, Entiativity and Essentialism. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press. ISBN: 1841690619.

Maule, A. J, Hodgkinson, G. P. & Bown, N. J. (2003). Cognitive mapping of causal reasoning in strategic decision making. To appear in D. Hardman and L. Macchi (Eds.) Thinking: Psychological perspectives on reasoning, judgement and decision making. Chichester: Wiley (pps 253-273). ISBN: 0471494577.

Refereed journal articles

Hodgkinson, G.P, Maule, A. J. & Bown, N. J. (in press). Causal cognitive mapping in the organizational strategy field: A comparison of alternative elicitation procedures. Organizational Research Methods.

Bown, N.J. & Abrams, D. (2003). Despicability in the Workplace: Effects of behavioral deviance and unlikeability on the evaluation of group members. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33 (1), 2413-2426.

Bown, N. J., Read, D. & Summers, B. (2003). The lure of choice. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 16 (4), 297-308.

Abrams, D., Marques, J., Bown, N. & Dougill, M. (2002). Anti-norm and pro-norm deviance in the bank and on the campus: Two experiments on subjective group dynamics. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 5 (2), 163-182.

Abrams, D., Marques, J., Bown, N. J. & Henson, M. (2000). Pro-norm and anti-norm deviance within and between groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 906-912.

Hodgkinson, G. P., Maule, A.J., Bown, N. J., Pearman, A. D. & Glaister, K. W. (2002). Further reflections on the elimination of framing bias in strategic decision making. Strategic Management Journal, 23, 1069-76.

Bown N J, Read D, Opportunity Chains: The lure of choice, 7th Behavioural Decision Research in Management Conference, University of Arizona, 2000

Hodgkinson, G.P, Bown, N.J., Maule, A.J., Glaister, K.W. & Pearman, A.D. (1999). Breaking the frame: An analysis of strategic cognition and decision making under uncertainty. Strategic Management Journal, 20, 977-985.

Hodgkinson G P, Bown N J, The individual in the strategy process: a cognitive model, Abstract in Conference Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the British Academy of Management, Vol II, pp.1270, 1999

Maule A J, Bown N J, Hodgkinson G P, Pearman A D, Glaister K W, An investigation of the causal mental models underlying escalation of commitment, One-day Thinking and Reasoning Seminar, part of ESRC seminar series on Risk, Reasoning and Decision Making, London Guildhall University, 1999

Bown N J, Abrams D, Behavioral deviance and social attractiveness in organizations: Working with black sheep. Proceedings of the 1st International Work Psychology Conference., 1998

Bown N, Book Review: Handbook of Work Group Psychology, M. West (Ed), Journal of Management Studies, pp.399-402, 1998

Hodgkinson G P, Bown N J, Maule A J, Glaister K W, Pearman A D, Understanding the relationship between framing and decision choice in strategic decision making: An exploration of actors' mental models., 7th Annual Behavioural Decision Research in Management (BDRM) Conference, University of Miami, US, 1998

Hodgkinson G P, Bown N J, Maule A J, Glaister K W, Pearman A D, Dual information processing in strategic decision making? A theoretical framework and some empirical data. 18th Annual International Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Orlando, 1998

Maule A J, Hodgkinson G P, Bown N J, Pearman A D, Glaister K W, Understanding the escalation of commitment in strategic decision making: An exploration of actors' mental models, ESRC Risk and Human Behaviour Conference, University of London, 1998

Bown N J, Black sheep in the workplace: The consequences of behavioural deviance and social attractiveness in workgroups, International Work Psychology Conference, The Institute of Work Psychology, 1998

Hodgkinson G P, Bown N J, Maule A J, Glaister K W, Pearman A D, Mapping strategic choice: An experimental investigation of the role of cognition under differing levels of risk and uncertainty, 5th International Workshop on Managerial and Organizational Cognition: Let Reality Question our Cognitive Concepts, Namur, Belgium, 1997

Hodgkinson G P, Bown N J, Maule A J, Glaister K W, Pearman A D, Overcoming framing effects through cognitive mapping: An experimental investigation of strategic choice, ESRC Risk and Human Behaviour Conference, University of York, 1997

Bown N J, Behavioural extremity (social deviance), social attractiveness (personal likeability) and the "Black Sheep Effect" in the workplace, Northern Universities Organisational Behaviour Network, biannual meeting Leeds, 1997