Research

I am a social psychologist with a main research interest in intergroup relations. The majority of my research is focused on how we can improve relationships between people of different ethnic or religious backgrounds, with an emphasis on acculturation processes, discrimination, and well-being of ethnic minority members. I have conducted research with a variety of majority and minority groups in England, the Netherlands, Canada, and Chile.

I currently work at the University of Sussex on an ESRC-funded research project on refugee resettlement with Dr Michael Collyer (Geography), Dr Linda Morrice (Education), and Prof Rupert Brown (Psychology). This project focuses on resettled refugees who arrived in the UK through the Gateway Protection Programme (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/asylum/gateway/). It is a multidisciplinary and multi-methods research project that will develop existing approaches to the integration of refugees through a longitudinal comparative study of resettled refugees in three different locations in the UK (Brighton, Greater Manchester and Norwich). A combination of quantitative survey research, focus groups, and individual interviews will be used to addresses two overarching research questions:

1. How do these three areas (Brighton & Hove, Norwich and Greater Manchester) compare in terms of integration outcomes for resettled refugees?

2. What are the key determinants of integration outcomes among resettled refugees, especially subjective well-being, self-efficacy and perceived social acceptance?

Answers to these questions will inform government refugee resettlement policy and theories of social cohesion and intergroup relations.

For more information about this project, please have a look at our project website http://www.sussex.ac.uk/migration/research/integrationcitizenship/refugeeresettlement or email me at L.Tip@sussex.ac.uk.

I also collaborate with:

Prof Rupert Brown on causes and consequences of domain-specific acculturation preferences of majority and minority members;

Dr Hanna Zagefka (Royal Holloway, University of London) on predictors of integration;

Prof Roberto Gonzalez (Pontifica University, Santiago, Chile) on effects of ingroup norms on domain-specific acculturation preferences;

Prof Jan Pieter Van Oudenhoven (University of Groningen, the Netherlands) on a project on virtues an vices across different nations.

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), a Fellow of the Sussex Centre for Migration Research, and a member of the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP) and the International Academy for Intercultural Research (IAIR).