Dr Matt Williams PhD, MA, GDipArts, BBS

Contact details

• Ph: +64 9 414 0800 x43117
  Location: 3.23, School of Psychology
  Campus: Auckland

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy - Massey University (2016)
• Master of Arts - Massey University (2010)
• Graduate Diploma in Arts - Massey University (2007)
• Bachelor of Business Studies - Massey University (2006)

Certifications and Registrations

• Licence, Supervisor, Massey University

Prizes and Awards

• Massey University Vice-Chancellor's Doctoral Scholarship - Massey University (2010)
• Dean's Award for my PhD thesis. I.e., my PhD thesis, "How well do psychologists’ research methods equip them to contribute to climate change research? A methodological investigation with particular reference to the effects of temperature increase on violent behaviour", was placed on Massey University's Dean's List of Exceptional Theses for 2015. - Massey University (2015)

Research Interests

• Psychology of climate change
• Beliefs in conspiracy theories
• Meta-psychology

Thematics

21st Century Citizenship, Resource Development and Management, Health and Well-being

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Applied Statistics (010401):
Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology (170106):
Mathematical Sciences (010000):
Personality, Abilities and Assessment (170109): Psychological Methodology, Design and Analysis (170110): Psychology (170100): Psychology And Cognitive Sciences (170000): Social and Community Psychology (170113):
Statistics (010400)

Keywords

Climate change, conspiracy theories, misinformation, statistics, metapsychology.

Courses Coordinated

• 175.746 Psychological Research: Quantitative Data Analysis

Graduate Supervision Statement

My main research interests are:

1. Misinformation and conspiracy theories. What drives people to believe and spread misinformation?
2. Metapsychology and methodology. For example, how frequent are numeric reporting errors in published articles? How effective are attention checks when collecting data online?
3. The relationship between renting and mental health. Dr Clifford van Ommen and I are seeking a doctoral student who is comfortable with quantitative methods to conduct a project on this topic.

Most of my research is quantitative, and I am a strong supporter of open science practices (e.g., preregistration, open data, open materials). I lead the Reproducible Psychology at Albany lab, where students can network with one another in a supportive environment.

Whenever possible, I prefer to work with students who have successfully completed 175.303 The Practice of Psychological Research and 175.746 Psychological Research: Quantitative Data Analysis (or equivalent courses from other institutions).

Availability
I no longer have any space for new supervision in 2023 (with the exception of project #3 listed above). I may have some space in 2024; if you're interested in working together then, please contact me around October 2023.

Current Doctoral Supervision

Main Supervisor of:

• Nick Fox - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  Anxiety, depression, stress, and belief in conspiracy theories: A longitudinal perspective
• Tamara McLean - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  A Scale Validation and Prevalence Estimate of Climate Change Anxiety in the General Population
• Andrew Dodge - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  An Exploration into Gender and Generational Differences in Mental Health Literacy in Australasia
• Casey Scott-Campbell - Doctor of Philosophy
  Exploring Evolutionary Insights about Suicide
• Shaun Garea - Doctor of Philosophy
  Loot Boxes and Proximal Gambling Practices Found in Video Games
• view more...
• Sarah Kember - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  Vaccination in Aotearoa: The role of anticipated regret, temporal discounting, and maternal mental health
• Mikayla Holman - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  A Temporal Network Analysis of Risk Factors for Suicide
• Shoni Marshall-Edwards - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  Investigating Decision-Regret and Distress Among Psychologists Impacted by Client Suicide
• Donnella De Silva - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  The Relationship Between Self-Injury, Emotion Regulation, Self-Esteem and Self-Compassion among Young Adults
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Co-supervisor of:

• Brandon McMurtrie - Doctor of Philosophy
  Social Identity, Affective Polarization and belief in Conspiracies
• Alex Shepherd - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  Metacognition in relation to adult cognitive performance
• Evan Valdes - Doctor of Philosophy
  Investigating the Cross-Cultural Differences of Categorical Thinking on System Justification: Implications for Socioeconomic Status, Political Identity, and Life Satisfaction

Completed Doctoral Supervision

Main Supervisor of:

• 2022 - Emily Cory - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Perfectionism in Young Adults
• 2021 - Andrew Walmsley - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  The Right Tool for the Job: An Investigation into Men’s Help-Seeking Behaviours and Attitudes in a sample of New Zealand Construction Workers

Co-supervisor of:

• 2021 - Brooke Yelavich - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  An Investigation of the Factors Relating to Attendance of Psychological Appointments
• 2021 - Charlotte Gibson - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  Babies and Babble: Parents' Experiences of the Neonatal Unit and the Role of the Babble App
• 2021 - Natalija Damnjanovic - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  The “ACT-ive” Pursuit of Loss and Gain: The Impact of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based Intervention on Post Weight-Loss Surgery Individuals.
• 2020 - Aramis Dennan - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  A Dominant Swipe: Does Ambivalent Sexism Impact Young Adults’ Engagement with Dating Applications?
• 2019 - Joseph Smith - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
  Network Models of Mindfulness

Media

• 29 Apr 2021 - Radio
  RNZ The Panel
  I was interviewed about our research on conspiracy theories (Marques et al., 2021) on RNZ's The Panel.
• 27 May 2021 - Television
  The Project
  Our recent research on beliefs in conspiracy theories was covered on TV3's 'The Project'. (From 12:54 in the video)
• 21 Mar 2022 - Television
  Te Ao with Moana Season 4 Episode 3
  Interview in episode entitled "Falling down the 'conspiracy theory' rabbit hole - a conversation with survivors"
• 21 Jun 2015 - Newspaper
  New research finds connection between climate and
  An article in the Sunday Star Times entitled "New research finds connection between climate and crime" discussed my journal article "The relationship between temperature and assault in New Zealand".
• 18 Mar 2022 - Newspaper
  "They just lose it"
  Koubaridis, A. (2022, March 18). ‘They just lose it’: New theory on anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists. Herald Sun.
• view more...
• 14 Nov 2021 - Newspaper, Online
  Study to track why Kiwis fall down conspiracy, mis
  Article by Jamie Morton describing my planned longitudinal study.
• 03 Feb 2022 - Newspaper, Online
  Pourquoi une croyance conspirationniste...
  Pourquoi une croyance conspirationniste en renforce-t-elle d’autres ? [Why does one conspiratorial belief reinforce others?] Article in French on the Belgian news website RTBF by Johanne Montay. Descr
• 01 Dec 2016 - Online
  Interview:"Who Cares? What's the point?" (podcast)
  I was interviewed on Sarb Johal's "Who cares? What's the point?" podcast, with the episode focusing on my research on climate change and human aggression.
• 01 Dec 2016 - Online
  Interview: "Who cares? What's the point?" podcast
  My research on climate change and assault resulted in an interview on Sarb Johal's "Who cares? What's the point?" podcast. The interview was subsequently covered on sciblogs.co.nz, which is New Zealan
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Other Links

• Personal website