2024
A great night presenting at “Come to the Dark Side” as part of NI Science Festival at QUB School of Psychology along with Ceri Welsh, Tayler Truhan and Lauren Ferguson and supported by our supervisor Kostas A. Papageorgiou.
We were able to have some very engaging discussions with the public around dark personalities in everyday life!
Following a successful event on the Psychology of Psychopaths that was attended by approximately 300 people at the Mac Belfast (31st October 2023), Dr Kostas Papageorgiou delivered three talks at the Well in Dublin, in Cyprus Avenue in Cork and on the Black Box in Belfast on the 29th and 30th of January 2024 and on the 14th of March, respectively. The events were huge successes as they were attended by more than 700 people in total.
In the following two months, Kostas will deliver another six events, this time in Bristol, London, Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway on the Psychology of Narcissism.
Dr Kostas Papageorgiou has been invited to participate in an event co-organised by the British Council, Study in Greece, and the British Embassy in Athens on Tuesday, February 13, at the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports. In the event, which will be held under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Religion and Sports, the Minister Mr. Pierrakakis and His Excellency, the British Ambassador in Greece Mr. Matthew Lodge will participate with introductory speeches.
The event consists of two parts:
· The signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the British Council, the British Embassy and Study in Greece, which will mark the formalization of the cooperation between the two bodies which aims to strengthen and expand Greek-British academic relations and synergies.
· The conference on the theme: “The development and implementation of impactful international partnerships in higher education”, which will take place within the framework of the Hellenic-British Strategic Cooperation in Education programme, focusing on issues related to contemporary trends in international Higher Education and development of strategic planning for the internationalization of Greek Universities in a demanding international environment of challenges and opportunities.
The event will also be attended by Phil Baty (Chief Global Affair Office, THE Times Higher Education), Rectors and Vice Rectors of International Relations of Greek Universities as well as by senior members of the administration responsible for the internationalisation of the institutions.
Following the event, Dr Papageorgiou has been invited to a Reception organised by His Excellency, the British Ambassador in Greece Mr. Matthew Lodge.
On the 17th of January Dr Kostas Papageorgiou gave an interview about his research on dark personalities to the Nighttime Talk with Niall Boylan at Ireland’s Classic Hit Radio.
2023
A Great Team!
Thank you to my colleague Dr Paul Wilson and to the wonderful students and researchers in the Interract lab at QUB, Dr Tayler Truhan (Research Fellow), Ms Ceri Welsh (PhD student), Ms Micheala McIlvenna (PhD student), Ms Lauren Ferguson (MSc student), Ms Bahar Canbolat (International Visiting Student), Ms Caoimhe Nic an Fhirleighinn (Research Associate and MSc student) and Ms Lia Higgins (MSc student) for all the hard work they have put into making the ISSID2023 conference a success!
Special thank you to the School of Psychology at QUB Clerical Officers, Mrs Eve Wilson, Mr David McGarry and Mr Glenn Sargent for their invaluable support prior and during the conference!
Dr Kostas Papageorgiou and lab member Dr Paul Wilson have co-Chaired the 2023 ISSID Conference at QUB. What a great pleasure it was to welcome to Belfast close to 300 delegates from across the globe for this highly stimulating conference!
Welcome ISSID Delegates to Queen’s University Belfast for this much anticipated 5-day conference!
2022
Please follow the link to the ISSID conference 2023 website
Dr Kostas Papageorgiou was propoted to Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the School of Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast.
Dr Kostas Papageorgiou delivered two talks in the 17th European Congress on Personality that took place between the 5th and 8th of July in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Dr Papageorgiou presented new evidence derived from a large cross-cultural project on the Dark Triad traits being sensitive to socioeconomic conditions. The project included samples from the UK, Greece and China.
The InteRRaCt Lab would like to congratulate Dr Teresa Gomes Arrulo-Clarke, who has passed her VIVA on the 7th of April 2022! Both the external (Professor Alexandra Lamont) and the internal (Dr Gillian Shorter) examiners were massively impressed with Teresa’s thesis and performance in the viva. Teresa has joined the lab in 2019 as fully-funded PhD student under the supervision of Dr Papageorgiou and Dr Mihalis Doumas. Teresa is about to start in her new job as an Assistant Lecturer at Arden University. We wish you best of luck in your future career Dr Teresa Gomes Arrulo-Clarke!
Follow the European Journal of Personality’s Blog: An excellent source of information related to research in personality and updates on the European Association for Personality Research. You can also follow the EJP-Blog’s Twitter and Facebook channels and to subscribe to the EJP-Blog’s Newsletter.
The InteRRaCt Lab would like to congratulate Dr Tayler Truhan, who has passed her VIVA on the 8th of March 2022! Both the external (Dr Giovanni Moneta) and the internal (Dr Teresa Rushe) examiners were massively impressed with Tayler’s thesis and performance in the viva. Tayler has joined the lab in 2016 as an MSc students on the Course Childhood Adversity. She then worked in the lab as a Research Associate for a year before starting her PhD on 2018 under the supervision of Dr Papageorgiou and Professor Rhiannon Turner. We wish you best of luck in your future career Dr Tayler E. Truhan!
Dr Kostas A. Papageorgiou was invited to deliver a lecture on Dark Personalities in the Course Theories of Personality of the American Institute of Foreign Studies
Dr Kostas A. Papageorgiou was invited to become a Member and an Advocate of the European Association for Personality Psychology in the UK and Ireland
Dr Kostas A. Papageorgiou joins the Journal Personality and Individual Differences as an Associate Editor
2021
InteRRaCt Lab Research Attracts Worldwide Media Attention: Our recent paper “Personality, Behavioral strenghts and difficulties and performance of adolescents with high achievements in science, literature, art and sports” that was published in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences as an invited submission to the Journal’s Special Issue to celebrate the 40th year of the Internation Society for the Study of Individual Differences attracted worldwide media attention featuring, among other outlets, on BBC News online.
Dr Kostas A. Papageorgiou was invited to join the Journal Acta Psychologica (Individual Differences Section) as an Associate Editor
The InteRRaCt Lab welcomes Ms. Ceri Welsh, who has started her PhD in October 2021. Ceri has joined the lab as a PhD student after completing an MSc degree in Clinical Health at Queen’s University Belfast. Ceri is supervised by Dr. Kostas Papageorgiou and Mihalis Doumas. Have a great start Ceri!
Congratulations to our PhD student, Tayler Truhan, who won a prize for the best student presentation at the @NIBPS Annual Conference.
2020
Dr Kostas A. Papageorgiou and Dr. Emma Berry, Green Champions in the School of Psychology, has run student competition for designing the best logo for the School’s Green Committee. Student Harrier Godfrey has won the competition and will be awarded a brand new bike as a prize. The Green Committee in the School of Psychology aims to bring staff and students together to enact more strategic, deeper change at the School level, embedding good environmental practices across their activities. Our plan is to develop a bespoke environmental action plan and address on a more strategic level the areas in which the School of Psychology can have greatest impact. Key to the success of our plan is the interaction between staff and students, who will be supporting our mission throughout the process, taking action with the Committee and monitoring of the overall progress. Our vision is to become a task force for environmental sustainability behaviour change, and a resource for staff and students, so they can be empowered to make small changes in their lives to help protect and conserve our natural environment.
The InteRRaCt Lab welcomes Ms. Micheala McIlvenna, who has started her PhD in September 2020. Micheala worked in the InteRRaCt Lab for two years as a UG Research Associate before deciding to pursue a PhD. Micheala is supervised by Dr. Kostas Papageorgiou and Professor Cherie Armour. Have a great start Micheala!
The next International Conference of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences will be hosted at Queen’s University Belfast in July 2023. The InteRRaCt Lab is very excited and will do its best to support the organisation of this conference. We look forward to seeing you all in Belfast in July 2023!
New ESRC-Impact Acceleration Grant (R1256PSY: Modeling Changes in Psychopathology in the Time of COVID19) awarded to Dr Kostas A. Papageorgiou to deliver impact and research activities on changes in psychopathology before vs. during the pandemic. The project utilizes longitudinal, cross-cultural datasets to explore and communicate to the public predictors of change in levels of psychopathology among countries that have differentially been affected by the pandemic.
New MSc in Applied Developmental Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast: This is a new and exciting postgraduate taught programme that aims to provide graduate students with an opportunity for advanced study in specialist topics in the field of applied developmental psychology and to prepare graduate students for more advanced research in applied developmental psychology, professional training in psychology or other discipline-related professional training. Dr Kostas A. Papageorgiou will be the Director of this new course.
2019
NVTV has created an excellent videoclip covering our symposium on the 15th of November 2019 including interviews with some of the speakers. You can watch it here: http://www.nvtv.co.uk/shows/the-round-up-friday-22nd-november-2019/
On Friday 15th November 2019, the InteRRaCt Lab and AQR International held an excellent conference on the theme of Mental Toughness, its links with human personality, and it’s many applications in individual and organisational development. The conference took place in the beautiful Riddel Hall at Queen’s University Belfast. The event was attended by 80 delegates from the world of HR, Coaching and the Academia. On behalf of the InteRRaCt Lab, I send a big thank you to the delegates for their participation; to the great line up of speakers including Doug Strycharczyk, Dr Kostas Papageorgiou, Prof Peter Clough, Dr John Perry, Dr Samineh Shaheem, Lorna Lawless, Zoe Sweet, Toni Molyneux, Tayler Truhan and Teresa Gomes Arrulo; to the Division of Occupational Psychology Northern Ireland Brand of the British Psychological Society for sponsoring the event; and to NVTV for covering part of the event and for conducting interviews with some of the speakers.
Work in the InteRRaCt Lab has impact: Our recent papers on narcissism, mental toughness and psychopathology resulted in more than 500 pieces of coverage worldwide including articles on CNN, CNBC and Discover Magazine, live interviews in numerous radio stations and the BBC World News TV. Some examples below:
CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/31/study-narcissists-tend-to-be-happier-tougher-and-less-stressed.html
BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-50184281
The Times: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/narcissists-are-happier-than-the-rest-of-us-after-all-it-s-all-about-them-zt9kkpdch
Discover Magazine: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/11/01/an-upside-to-narcissism-trait-linked-to-lower-levels-of-stress-and-depression/#.Xb8ypXjSiUk
Dr. Papageorgiou gave a Webinar “Bringing New Insights into the Big Five and Dark Triad” that was organised by AQR International one of the most valued collaborators of the InteRRaCt Lab. You can watch the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPcmuMmIOIg&feature=youtu.be
Dr. Papageorgiou was invited to give a public lecture on the Psychology Week that was organised by the BPS Northern Ireland Branch. The lecture presented new findings on role of subclinical narcissism as the bridge of personality.
- Our PhD students, Tayler Truhan and Teresa Sofia Gomez Arrulo, presented talks at the 10th Annual Psychology Postgraduate Research Conference at Queen’s University Belfast. They were also members of the organising committee. The conference was one of the most well-attended in the School’s history! Teresa presented her research on stress, psychopathy, and hip-hop music. Tayler presented a study on personality and psychopathology networks.” Well Done!
We are delighted to announce that early bird tickets for the upcoming Mental Toughness Symposium in Belfast will be on sale until the extended deadline of 30th September. Enhance your professional development by learning about one of the most fundamental factors in people development today – Mental Toughness. A not to be missed event for coaches, psychologists, HR and OD professionals alike. Book your place here – https://aqrinternational.co.uk/event/mental-toughness-symposium’
- Lab Member, Dr. Paul Wilson from Queen’s, and Dr. Kostas Papageorgiou submitted a successful bit to host the next International Conference of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences at Queen’s University Belfast. The InteRRaCt Lab is very excited and will do its best to support the organisation of this conference. We look forward to seeing you all in Belfast the w/c the 26th of July 2021!
- Dr. Papageorgiou became a member of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences and joined the Board of Editors of the Journal Personality and Individual Differences.
- Dr. Papageorgiou delivered a talk in the Conference of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences that took place in Florence in July 2019. Kostas presented findings of our most recent paper proposing a novel idea about the role of narcissism in human personality: Narcissism may be a bridge between the prosocial and malevolent side of human personality influencing how the wider network of personality traits interconnect. Our PhD student, Tayler Truhan, has also attended the conference and delivered an excellent (Tayler’s first in an International event) talk on networks of personality and psychopathology.
- Registration is now open for our Mental Toughness Symposium that is organised by the InteRRaCt Lab and AQR International and it is supported by the Occupational Psychology division of the Northern Ireland British Psychological Society. Early Bird registration will go fast so register as soon as possible.
The InteRRaCt Lab hosted two International Research Associates, who participated in the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience Association (IAESTE). Since 1948 IAESTE has been providing young science and engineering students from around the world with paid, course related work experience.
Our International Research Associates worked on a project that aims to utilise machine learning as a means of creating predictive models of Personality on Visual Attention and Intelligence.
Following completion of the internships, Dr. Papageorgiou was invited to attend the IAESTE NI summer reception at Belfast City Hall – a great evening!
Dr. Papageorgiou gave two Invited Lectures in the International Conference on Mental Toughness that took place on the 20th of June 2019 in Manchester, UK. The conference was organised by AQR International, a valued collaborator of the InteRRaCt Lab.
InteRRaCt Lab MSc student, Ms. Delfina Bilello, delivered a TEDx talk inspired by recent research findings from our lab. You can find the talk here.
An opportunity for a group photo with Dr Papageorgiou and some of the lab’s doctoral, MSc and undergraduate students after a weekly lab meeting at Queen’s beautiful Postgraduate Centre.
Ms. Tayler Truhan, a PhD student in the InteRRaCt Lab working on the PaCT project, has passed successfully her differentiation in May 2019. Tayler is supervised by Dr. Papageorgiou and Lab Member Professor Rhiannon Turner.
Dr. Papageorgiou presented a talk on the role of grandiose narcissism in reducing symptoms of psychopathology on the 3rd World Conference in Personality that took place in Hanoi, Vietnam in April 2019.
On the same conference, Mrs. Foteini-Maria Gianniou, a Research Associate in the InteRRaCt Lab, presented her MSc dissertation on the role of grandiose narcissism and physical activity as protective factors against psychopathology.
The InteRRaCt Lab welcomes Ms. Teresa Sofia Gomez Arrulo, who has started her PhD in January 2019. Teresa worked in the InteRRaCt Lab for a year as a Visiting Research Associate before deciding to pursue a PhD. Teresa is supervised by Dr. Kostas Papageorgiou and Dr. Mihalis Doumas. Have a great start Teresa!
2018
Dr. Papageorgiou was invited to give a lecture on the Flavour of Psychology event that was organised by the BPS Northern Ireland Branch. The lecture presented new findings on the link between subclinical narcissism, psychopathology and education.
- The InteRRaCt lab had the immense pleasure to organise and host a symposium at Queen’s University Belfast on Friday 5th October 2018. The symposium was attended by some of the lab’s excellent Scientific Advisors, National and International collaborators, PhD and MSc students. This was a very productive day with a series of fantastic talks, constructive discussions and the formulation of fascinating research ideas and plans. In the evening, the team participated in a Cocktail masterclass at the Observatory Bar ,the tallest bar in all of Ireland! The evening was supported by Visit Belfast, one of InteRRaCt Lab’s valued collaborators.
The InteRRaCt Lab welcomes Ms. Tayler Truhan, who has started her PhD in October 2018. Tayler worked in the InteRRaCt Lab for almost two years for her MSc dissertation and as a Visiting Research Associate before deciding to pursue a PhD. Tayler will be working in the PaCT project and she will be supervised by Dr. Kostas Papageorgiou and Professor Rhiannon Turner. Have a great start Tayler!
InteRRaCt Lab Research Attracts Worldwide Media Attention: Our recent paper “Longitudinal associations between narcissism, mental toughness and school achievement.” that was published in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences attracted worldwide media attention: Dr. Papageorgiou interview on BBC was the fifth top story on BBC’s main website achieving more than half a million readers in less than 24 hours in June 26th. Dr. Papageorgiou has given interviews in more than 10 radio stations including a live interview for BBC World Service the world’s largest international broadcaster that broadcasts news in over 30 languages. Overall, this work resulted in more than 250 pieces of coverage worldwide.
In March 2018, Dr. Papageorgiou has visited the Educational Centre Sirius in Sochi, Russia to present at the center’s 1st International Conference. The aim of the centre, that works all year round, is the identification, development and further professional support of gifted adolescents, who have shown outstanding ability in the areas of intellectual achievement, music, arts or sports.
2017
Dr. Papageorgiou attended the annual Belfast Ambassador Awards at the Titanic Hotel Belfast in November 2017 and received recognition for his work to promote the city of Belfast as a business and tourism destination and a venue for hosting international scientific conferences.
In September 2017, Dr. Papageorgiou has visited Tomsk University in Siberia in order to deliver five lectures on the International MSc in Human Development: Genetics, Neuroscience and Psychology and an open lecture at the same university.
In July 2017, Dr. Papageorgiou delivered a talk at the International Society for Intelligence Research, Annual Conference that took place in Montreal, Canada. The talk was titled: Longitudinal Associations between Narcissism, Mental Toughness and School Achievement.
In June 2017, Dr. Papageorgiou visited the Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education in Moscow to present at the International Summer School for young scientists and students ‘Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Educationally Relevant Psychological Traits’.
nt Psychological Traits’.
