Faculty: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Start Date: 5th January 2026
End Date: 17 April 2026
Hours: 18.75 hours per week
Pay: £16.19 per hour
About the project
This part of the project is led by Dr Magdalena Zawisza and funded by Include Plus. It aims to test an online anti-objectification intervention being developed with young women who are users of social media. Ofcom’s Online Nation 2023 report finds that 56% of online harm is experienced on social media platforms and that ‘content or language which objectifies, demeans, or otherwise negatively portrays women’ is one of the top ten harms experienced by women and girls. Such exposure can produce negative effects including, anxiety, shame, depression and eating disorders, which impair performance, lower aspirations (Zawisza-Riley, 2019; Sharma & Vidal, 2023), and create inequitable online spaces. Although online harm exposure decreases as users age, the experiences of negative content remain high among marginalised groups, particularly those defined by gender, race, sexuality, disability, or socioeconomic status. This part of the project will test the intervention’s effectiveness in promoting more resilient responses to harmful online content and in supporting wellbeing using pre and pots-intervention questionnaires.
Duties:
• Prepare study materials (e.g. on Qualtrics)
• Promote study to collect data (e.g. on Social Media)
• Recruit and test participants (young women, 16-18 years of age)
• Use online research platforms for data collection (Qualtrics)
• Conduct and write up literature review
• Manage of datasets and undertake statistical analysis (using e.g. SPSS, Jamovi, Stats Claud, and/or R) such as power analysis, outliers analysis, ANOVA and reliability analyses.
• Report write-up observing APA publication standards
Candidate Experience and Requirements
Essential:
· Interest in online objectification effects and their prevention
· Strong UG or higher degree in psychology
· Strong understanding of quantitative research methods in psychology (online surveys, experimental designs)
· Able to work with computer programs (preferably SPSS and/or Jamovi and/or Stats Cloud).
· Familiar with statistics such as t tests, ANOVAs, hierarchical regression, path analysis (desirable)
· Familiar with BPS Ethics code of conduct
· Proficient with Microsoft packages especially Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
· Excellent presentation skills
· Excellent communication skills
· High motivation and attention to detail
· Able to follow instructions and take initiative
· Collaborative and friendly
Desirable:
· Knowledgeable of the psychology of online objectification effects and their prevention
· Knowledge of social and gender psychology ·prior RA experience (e.g. summer project) in psychology
· Familiar with statistics such as path analysis
Additional Information
Part time at 0.5 FTE, start date 5.01.26 for 32.5 days (=c. 13 working weeks, excluding 2 weeks of Easter Break, till 17th Apr 2026inclusive):
· Weeks 1-2 (5-16.01): Introduction to the project (ethics forms and pre-registration, GDPR Training)
· Weeks 3-4 (19-30.01): setting up and testing Qualtrics + online recruitment plan
· Weeks 5-9 (2.02.-6.03.26): Data collection from 16-18 year olds and literature review
· Weeks 10-11 (9-20.03): Preparing for and conducting analyses (data management, preliminary and main analyses)
· 28.03-10.04 – Annual Leave
· Weeks 12-13 (23-27.03 & 13-17.04.26): Writing-up the final report & Prevent Training
To Apply:
Please apply directly online with your CV and a covering letter, please ensure your CV is up to date and any Research experience is clearly detailed.
Application Deadline: Monday 24th November, 9am.
Interview Date: Friday 5th December
Please note I will only reply to the successful candidate.