Dr Catherine O'Brien

College positions: Director of Studies in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences

Subject: Psychological and Behavioural Sciences

Dr O’Brien is the Director of Studies in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences (PBS) at Magdalene.

Dr O’Brien received her undergraduate training in psychology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She was awarded two Gates scholarships to complete her MPhil and PhD respectively, in Social and Developmental Psychology at the University of Cambridge. She was then a research associate in the then Faculty of Social and Political Science, University of Cambridge. Dr. O’Brien has supervised on psychology papers for numerous Cambridge Colleges. She was Director of Studies in SPS/PPS/HSPS at Peterhouse from 2007-2017 and has directed studies in PBS at Magdalene College since 2014, at Jesus College (Part I) since 2020, and at Wolfson College since 2022. She is also a Bye-Fellow in PBS at Lucy Cavendish College, Jesus College, Wolfson College and St. Catharine's College. In May 2018, she was short-listed for a CUSU student-led Teaching Award as a supervisor, one of only 10 such supervisors selected in the School of Social Sciences.

Research Interests

  • Social and developmental psychology, with a focus on topics such as:
    • Social representations of the euro
    • Social construction of ‘geeks’
  • Research on children and young people’s understanding of authority and power, particularly in schools (primary and secondary)
  • Interest in school bullying and its relation to:
    • The excision of ‘Asperger Syndrome’ from the DSM-5
    • The autistic and neurotypical spectrums in both children and adults
  • Study of autism and Asperger Syndrome from both a clinical and personality psychology perspective
  • Application of Jungian depth psychology to autism and Asperger Syndrome literature
  • Current research focuses on:
    • Social psychology, particularly concerning social stigmas and stereotypes
    • Jungian depth psychology as an alternative to cognitive biases
    • A comparison of mainstream psychological accounts and New Age discourses

Qualifications

  • BBusSc, Cape Town,
  • BSocSc (Hons), Cape Town
  • MPhil Cantab
  • PhD Cantab

KEY PUBLICATIONS

Young people's comparisons of cross-gender and same-gender bullying in British secondary schools, O'Brien, C., Educational Research, Vol. 53, Issue 3, pp. 257-301, (2011)

Job quality in Europe, Smith, M., Burchell, B., Fagan, C., & O’Brien, C., Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 39, Issue 6, pp. 585–602, (2008)

Working conditions in the European Union: The gender perspective, Burchell, B., Fagan, C., O’Brien, C., & Smith, M., European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, (2007)

Peer devaluation in British secondary schools: Young people’s comparisons of group-based and individual-based bullying, O’Brien, C., Educational Research, Vol. 49, pp. 297-324, (2007)

The role of the family, O’Brien, C. & Scott, J., in J. Coleman and A. Hagell (Eds.), Against the odds: Risk and resilience in adolescence, pp. 17-39, Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, (2007)

The psychological effects of solitary confinement: An early instance of psychology in South African Courts, Louw, J., & O’Brien, C., South African Journal of Psychology, Vol. 37, pp. 96-106, (2007)

The nature of childhood through history revealed in artworks?, O’Brien, C., Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research, Vol. 10, Issue 3, pp. 362-378, (2003)

Making up geeks, O’Brien, C., & Foster, D., Social Psychological Review, Vol. 3, Issue 2, pp. 34-47, (2001)

Email
co223@cam.ac.uk