Dr Johnny Lawson
Senior Lecturer - Psychology
Department of Psychology, Health and Professional Development
Research
Johnny has research interest in two main areas of psychology.
The first is the autism spectrum. He has developed a new cognitive model to conceptualise the spectrum that manages to synthesis the three dominant models in the area. The new model gives rise to a host of implications and issues that encompass three main areas 1) the autism spectrum 2) sex differences in the general population 3) the effect of a male bias towards a particular kind of cognitive style on the development of social structures and value systems.
The second relates to a relatively new area pf study within psychology; the Dark Triad. The Dark Triad is a postulated concept that encompasses three personality traits; sub-clinical psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism. Current research is exploring how these traits manifest among the general population and what social factors might influence this manifestation. He is currently developing a new measure of these traits - the Dark Triad Index (Lawson, Byrom & Hyland, in prep) and, in the longer term plans to explore how Dark Triad traits might be nurtured and regarded as advantageous within certain social institutions.