Dr Peta Callaghan
Senior Lecturer
School of Psychology
College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
I am a Critical Social Psychologist with research interests in social inequality, with a particular focus on environmental issues, racism and prejudice, and social identity. I employ a range of qualitative methodologies, from realist approaches such as content and thematic analysis to more constructionist methods, including discourse and critical discourse analysis. I hold an Education Specialist role, where I explore best-practice assessment in undergraduate psychology programs, academic staff well-being, and the impact of student evaluations on teaching practice. I am particularly interested in student-centred learning within capitalist education systems, examining how market-driven dynamics shape the student–teacher relationship.In my teaching, I prioritise applied, research-informed learning experiences, incorporating real-world problem-solving and critical engagement with contemporary social issues. I draw from Transformative and Relational pedagogies in my teaching approach, prioritising the student-teacher relationship to maximise student learning outcomes.
A Typology for Reflection for Assessment and Practice
Transitioning to Online Teaching for Academics during the COVID 19 Pandemic
SETs in Higher Education: From Student Perceptions to Teaching Practices.
Task allocation and the development of interpersonal skills in group work.
A Discursive Analysis of Online Data about the Voice to Parliament Referendum
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 - ongoing | Lecturer | University of Adelaide |
| 2019 - 2019 | Associate Lecturer | University of Adelaide |
| 2019 - 2020 | Research Associate | University of Adelaide |
| Language | Competency |
|---|---|
| English | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 - 2007 | Southern Cross University | Australia | Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) |
| Date | Title | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 - 2014 | Doctor of Philosophy | University of Adelaide | Australia |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Pettersson, K., Marveggio, M. D., Callaghan, P., & Augoustinos, M. (2025). Fatalism, Evolution, and Interpersonal Attractiveness: Psychological Theories and Emotions in Incels' Constructions of Ingroup Identity and Outgroup Hate. European Journal of Social Psychology, 55(2), 342-356. |
| 2025 | Gladwin, A., Newell, S., & Callaghan, P. (2025). Exploring student motivations and perceptions towards Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) systems: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice. |
| 2025 | Kimber, E., Callaghan, P., & Riggs, D. W. (2025). Medicalization and beyond: Navigating patient and provider experiences of gender-affirming healthcare in Australia. International Journal of Transgender Health, 1-16. |
| 2025 | Halliday, S., Lavis, T., Callaghan, P., & Chur-Hansen, A. (2025). Generative AI in higher education psychology programs: a scoping review exploring the opportunities for its use in assessment methods. Australian Psychologist, 12 pages. |
| 2025 | Penfold, A., Callaghan, P., & Urry, K. (2025). Online Communities and Identity: Experiences of LGBTQIA+ Emerging Adults Engaging With LGBTQIA+ Online Content During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Mar, 10.1037/ppm0000529, 2024). PSYCHOLOGY OF POPULAR MEDIA, 14(1), 2 pages. WoS1 |
| 2024 | Whitson, K. C., Callaghan, P., Thorpe, D., & Ejova, A. (2024). Three profiles of Australian climate change activism have both unique and overlapping motivators and barriers. Communications Earth and Environment, 5(1), 9 pages. |
| 2024 | Scholz, D., Taylor, A., Callaghan, P., & Strelan, P. (2024). An exploration of the efficacy of mental health and wellbeing education initiatives in secondary schools: triangulation of student and teacher perspectives. Australian Psychologist, 59(3), 275-289. Scopus2 WoS1 |
| 2024 | Penfold, A., Callaghan, P., & Urry, K. (2024). Online communities and identity: Experiences of LGBTQIA+ emerging adults engaging with LGBTQIA+ online content during the COVID-19 pandemic.. Psychology of Popular Media, 14(1), 22-31. Scopus2 |
| 2024 | Halliday, S., Callaghan, P., Lavis, T., & Chur-Hansen, A. (2024). Best practice assessment methods for the undergraduate psychology program: A narrative review of the literature. Australian Journal of Psychology, 76(1), 2395521-1-2395521-18. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2023 | Ziersch, A., Miller, E., Walsh, M., Due, C., Callaghan, P., Howe, J., & Green, E. (2023). ‘I really want to work for me to feel good myself ‘: Health impacts of employment experiences for women from refugee backgrounds in Australia. SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, 3, 9 pages. Scopus8 WoS5 |
| 2023 | Dobek, P., Bowen, H., & Callaghan, P. (2023). Experiences and perceptions of military and emergency services personnel identifying as LGBTQIA+ and their families: a qualitative systematic review protocol.. JBI evidence synthesis, Publish Ahead of Print(9), 1847-1853. |
| 2021 | Due, C., Callaghan, P., Reilly, A., Flavel, J., & Ziersch, A. (2021). Employment for women with refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds in Australia: An overview of workforce participation and available support programmes. International Migration, 63(1), 16 pages. Scopus12 WoS10 |
| 2015 | Street, J., Callaghan, P., Braunack-Mayer, A., & Hiller, J. (2015). Citizens' perspectives on disinvestment from publicly funded pathology tests: a deliberative forum. Value in Health, 18(8), 1050-1056. Scopus9 WoS9 Europe PMC5 |
| 2014 | Mitchell, J., Callaghan, P., Street, J., Neuhaus, S., & Bessen, T. (2014). The experience of melanoma follow-up care: an online survey of patients in Australia. Journal of Skin Cancer, 2014, 429149-1-429149-7. WoS14 Europe PMC12 |
| 2013 | Callaghan, P., & Augoustinos, M. (2013). Reified versus consensual knowledge as rhetorical resources for debating climate change. Revue Internationale de Psychologie Sociale, 26(3), 11-38. Scopus12 WoS10 |
| 2012 | Callaghan, P., Moloney, G., & Blair, D. (2012). Contagion in the representational field of water recycling: Informing new environment practice through social representation theory. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 22(1), 20-37. Scopus43 WoS43 |
| - | Kimber, E., Callaghan, P., & Riggs, D. W. (2025). Medicalization and beyond: Navigating patient and provider experiences of gender-affirming healthcare in Australia (19 Jun, 10.1080/26895269.2025.2522257, 2025). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRANSGENDER HEALTH, 1 page. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Augoustinos, M., & Callaghan, P. (2019). The language of social inequality. In J. Jetten, & K. Peters (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Inequality (pp. 321-334). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. DOI Scopus10 |
| 2018 | Augoustinos, M., Due, C., & Callaghan, P. (2018). Unlawful, Un-cooperative and Unwanted: The Dehumanization of Asylum Seekers in the Australian Newsprint Media. In S. Gibson (Ed.), Peace Psychology Book Series (pp. 187-204). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. DOI |
| 2018 | Augoustinos, M., Callaghan, P., & Hastie, B. (2018). Apologising for past wrongs: emotion-reason rhetoric in political discourse. In L. Smith, M. Wetherell, & G. Campbell (Eds.), Emotion, Affective Practices, and the Past in the Present (pp. 105-123). London, United Kingdom: Routledge, Taylor and Francis. DOI Scopus6 |
| 2017 | Augoustinos, M., Callaghan, P., Sorrentino, J., & Worth, A. (2017). Political leadership and social diversity: The everyday politics of race and gender. In C. Howarth, & E. Andreouli (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Everyday Politics (pp. 18-33). Oxon, UK: Routledge. |
| 2016 | Augoustinos, M., Callaghan, P., Sorrentino, J., & Worth, A. (2016). Political leadership and social diversity: The everyday politics of race and gender. In The Social Psychology of Everyday Politics (pp. 18-33). Routledge. DOI |
LTAG 2024 ($5000): Task allocation and the development of interpersonal skills in online group work.
Academic Lead for Assessment in Psychology
Course Coordinator:
- Psychology, Science and Society (Level III)
- Psychology in Society: Social psychology (Level II)
Course Author (online programs):
- Foundations of Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Research Methods, Design & Analysis (qualitative module)
- Applying Research Methods (qualitative module)
Course Development (Adelaide University)
- Psychology for Social Contexts (Course co-Lead and author)
- Psychology for Global Challenges (Course Lead and author)
- Psychology for Organisations and Communities (Course author)
- First Nations Core Course (Course author)
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | Perceptions of Qualitative Research in Psychology | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Juliana Wu |
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Mental Health Training in Pre-Service Teacher Education: Exploring current gaps and identifying scalable solutions | Master of Philosophy (Medical Science) | Master | Full Time | Mrs Amoriette De la Paz Perez Castro |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Location | Program | Supervision Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Border closures’ impact on University of Adelaide students: exploring barriers and facilitators of support during the COVID-19 pandemic | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Julianne Rogers |
| 2022 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Social Representations of Climate Change before and after the Black Summer bushfires of 2020 | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Mitchell Osborne |
| 2022 - 2020 | Principal Supervisor | #ClimateCriminals: Discursive constructions of climate change prior to and during Black Summer | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Joseph Laranjeira |
| 2022 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Online communities and identity: experiences of LGBTQIA+ young adults with LGBTQIA+ online content during the covid 19 pandemic | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Alex Penfold |
| 2022 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Confirmation bias in legal decision-making: a qualitative/ thematic analysis | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Ellie Turner |
| 2022 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Student and teacher experiences with the transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Sussan Vo |
| 2022 - ongoing | Co-Supervisor | Perceptions and experiences of LGBTQIA+ emergency first responders' and defence force personnel's families: A qualitative meta-synthesis | University of Adelaide and MESHA | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Philip Dobek |
| 2021 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Help-seeking experiences of young women with symptoms of anxiety and depression | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Madeleine Whyatt |
| 2020 - 2020 | Co-Supervisor | Exploring the Impact of Employment on the Health & Wellbeing of Middle Eastern Refugee Women | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Gur Kaur |
| 2020 - 2020 | Principal Supervisor | Anthropogenic Climate Change and Collective Action | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Part Time | Kath Whitson |
| 2020 - 2020 | Co-Supervisor | The Affective Practices of Incels: A Social Identity Approach to the Construction of Incel Identities | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Mark Marveggio |
| 2019 - 2019 | Co-Supervisor | Negotiating Changing Identities: Migrant and Refugee Children’s Ethnic Identity Expression in Australia | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science | Honours | Full Time | Tamina Islam |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 - ongoing | Chair | Psychology and Research using Qualitative Analysis (PARQA) | Australia |
| 2022 - ongoing | Member | Australian & New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) | Australia |
| 2022 - ongoing | Member | Psychology Education Research Group (PERG) | Australia |
| 2022 - ongoing | Member | School of Psychology, Diversity and inclusion in teaching sub-committee | Australia |
| 2021 - ongoing | Member | Society of Australasian Social Psychologists (SASP) | Australia |
| 2021 - ongoing | Member | University of Adelaide, Pearson Alliance Community of Practice | Australia |
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