Professor of Psychology, University of Melbourne
Nick is a social psychologist whose interests include prejudice, psychiatric classification and refugee mental health. His books include Psychology in the Bathroom, Introduction to Personality and Intelligence, Yearning to Breathe Free: Seeking Asylum in Australia, and Introduction to the Taxometric Method.
Snout, sniff and sneeze: the language of the nose
Apr 11, 2017 04:42 am UTC| Health
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that language is fossil poetry. It is made up, he said, of images which have long ceased to remind us of their poetic origin. Some of that poetry is on the nose. An extraordinary number of...
Distress, status wars and immoral behaviour: the psychological impacts of inequality
Mar 28, 2017 11:18 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy
It is well known that economic inequality is rising. In most industrialised nations the distribution of wealth and income is becoming increasingly concentrated. In the United States, the top 10% of earners make more than...
Goosebumps, tears and tenderness: what it means to be moved
Feb 09, 2017 12:52 pm UTC| Health
Emotion embodies motion. When we experience emotions were are agitated and stirred, transported and animated. Motion is at the root of the word itself: emotion comes from the Latin, meaning to move out or away. Many...
The trouble with 'microaggressions'
Jan 17, 2017 15:08 pm UTC| Law
Few psychological concepts have caught on as successfully as the idea of the microaggression. The term gained wide currency only ten years ago, but by 2015 it had been crowned the word of the year by the Global Language...
Do art and literature cultivate empathy?
Jan 10, 2017 15:50 pm UTC| Life
A common argument for the value of the arts is the claim they cultivate empathy. Reading literature, viewing quality cinema and listening to fine music refine our sensibilities and make us better and more humane or so the...
There’s an extra $1 billion on the table for NT schools. This could change lives if spent well
Political donations rules are finally in the spotlight – here’s what the government should do