Skip navigation

Dr Amanda Rotella

Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

I am an interdisciplinary researcher broadly interested in human social competition. I'm particularly interested in how socio-ecological factors shape competitive strategies (e.g., inequality, population density, reputation), and how, in-turn, competition influences cooperation, moral behaviours, and fertility decisions.

Before joining Northumbria University as an Assistant Professor in 2022, I was a Lecturer in social and health psychology at Kingston University, London. I also worked as as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Waterloo with Dr Igor Grossmann on a variety of topics, including cultural change, forecasting, and wise reasoning. I previously completed my PhD in 2020 at the University of Guelph, advised by Dr Pat Barclay, investigating when and why people make cooperative decisions.  

Amanda Rotella

Broadly, I am an interdisciplinary researcher interested in how social, situational, and ecological factors shape human social competition (i.e., how, when, and why we compete), and, in-turn, how competition influences people's behaviours and decisions. I am interested in a variety of topics, including cooperation, cultural change, inequality, morality, reputation, social signals, and wise reasoning.

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Moral obligation, autonomous motivation, and vaccine hesitancy: Highlighting moral obligation increases reactance in hesitant individuals, Pavey, L., Rotella, A., Vallee-Tourangeau, G. 1 Apr 2024, In: Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being
  • The Wise Mind Balances the Abstract and the Concrete, Grossmann, I., Peetz, J., Dorfman, A., Rotella, A., Buehler, R. 28 Jun 2024, In: Open Mind
  • Insights into the accuracy of social scientists’ forecasts of societal change, Grossmann, I., Rotella, A., Hutcherson, C., Sharpinskyi, K., Varnum, M., Achter, S., Dhami, M., Guo, X., Kara-Yakoubian, M., Mandel, D., Raes, L., Tay, L., Vie, A., Wagner, L., Adamkovic, M., Arami, A., Arriaga, P., Bandara, K., Banik, G., Bartoš, F., Baskin, E., Bergmeir, C., Bialek, M., Børsting, C., Browne, D., Caruso, E., Chen, R., Chie, B., Chopik, W., Collins, R., Cong, C., Conway, L., Davis, M., Day, M., Dhaliwal, N., Durham, J., Dziekan, M., Elbaek, C., Shuman, E., Fabrykant, M., Firat, M., Fong, G., Frimer, J., Gallegos, J., Goldberg, S., Gollwitzer, A., Goyal, J., Graf-Vlachy, L., Gronlund, S., Hafenbrädl, S., Hartanto, A., Hirshberg, M., Hornsey, M., Howe, P., Izadi, A., Jaeger, B., Kacmár, P., Kim, Y., Krenzler, R., Lannin, D., Lin, H., Lou, N., Lua, V., Lukaszewski, A., Ly, A., Madan, C., Maier, M., Majeed, N., March, D., Marsh, A., Misiak, M., Myrseth, K., Napan, J., Nicholas, J., Nikolopoulos, K., O, J., Otterbring, T., Paruzel-Czachura, M., Pauer, S., Protzko, J., Raffaelli, Q., Ropovik, I., Ross, R., Roth, Y., Roysamb, E., Schnabel, L., Schütz, A., Seifert, M., Sevincer, A., Sherman, G., Simonsson, O., Sung, M., Tai, C., Talhelm, T., Teachman, B., Tetlock, P., Thomakos, D., Tse, D., Twardus, O., Tybur, J., Ungar, L., Vandermeulen, D., Williams, L., Vosgerichian, H., Wang, Q., Wang, K., Whiting, M., Wollbrant, C., Yang, T., Yogeeswaran, K., Yoon, S., Alves, V., Andrews-Hanna, J., Bloom, P., Boyles, A., Charis, L., Choi, M., Darling-Hammond, S., Ferguson, Z., Kaiser, C., Karg, S., Ortega, A., Mahoney, L., Marsh, M., Martinie, M., Michaels, E., Millroth, P., Naqvi, J., Ng, W., Rutledge, R., Slattery, P., Smiley, A., Strijbis, O., Sznycer, D., Tsukayama, E., Loon, A., Voelkel, J., Wienk, M., Wilkening, T., Collaborative, T. 1 Apr 2023, In: Nature Human Behaviour
  • On the Accuracy, Media Representation, and Public Perception of Psychological Scientists’ Judgments of Societal Change, Hutcherson, C., Sharpinskyi, K., Varnum, M., Rotella, A., Wormley, A., Tay, L., Grossmann, I. 1 Nov 2023, In: American Psychologist
  • Public engagement on childhood vaccination: Democratizing policy decision-making through public deliberation, Chuong, K., Rotella, A., Cooper, E., O'Doherty, K. 29 Apr 2023, Democratizing Risk Governance, London, Springer
  • Examining the generalizability of research findings from archival data, Delios, A., Clemente, E., Wu, T., Tan, H., Wang, Y., Gordon, M., Viganola, D., Chen, Z., Dreber, A., Johannesson, M., Pfeiffer, T., Uhlmann, E., Al-Aziz, A., Abraham, A., Trojan, J., Adamkovic, M., Agadullina, E., Ahn, J., Akinci, C., Akkas, H., Albrecht, D., Alzahawi, S., Amaral-Baptista, M., Anand, R., Ang, K., Anseel, F., Aruta, J., Ashraf, M., Baker, B., Bao, X., Baskin, E., Bathula, H., Bauman, C., Bavolar, J., Bayraktar, S., Beckman, S., Benjamin, A., Brown, S., Buckley, J., Buitrago, R., Bution, J., Byrd, N., Carrera, C., Caruso, E., Chen, M., Chen, L., Cicerali, E., Cohen, E., Crede, M., Rotella, A. 26 Jul 2022, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
  • A creative destruction approach to replication: Implicit work and sex morality across cultures, Tierney, W., Hardy, J., Ebersole, C., Viganola, D., Clemente, E., Gordon, M., Hoogeveen, S., Haaf, J., Dreber, A., Johannesson, M., Pfeiffer, T., Huang, J., Vaughn, L., DeMarree, K., Igou, E., Chapman, H., Gantman, A., Vanaman, M., Wylie, J., Storbeck, J., Andreychik, M., McPhetres, J., Uhlmann, E., Abraham, A., Adamkovic, M., Adam-Troian, J., Agadullina, E., Akkas, H., Amir, D., Anne, M., Arbeau, K., Arnestad, M., Aruta, J., Ashraf, M., Azar, O., Baker, B., Baník, G., Barbosa, S., Mendes, A., Baskin, E., Bauman, C., Bavolar, J., Beckman, S., Bendixen, T., Benjamin, A., Berkers, R., Bhattacharjee, A., Bodily, S., Bottom, V., Rotella, A. 1 Mar 2021, In: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
  • Increasing Population Densities Predict Decreasing Fertility Rates Over Time: A 174-Nation Investigation, Rotella, A., Varnum, M., Sng, O., Grossmann, I. 1 Sep 2021, In: American Psychologist
  • Men’s Mate Value Correlates with a Less Restricted Sociosexual Orientation: A Meta-Analysis, Arnocky, S., Desrochers, J., Rotella, A., Albert, G., Hodges-Simeon, C., Locke, A., Belanger, J., Lynch, D., Kelly, B. Nov 2021, In: Archives of Sexual Behavior
  • No effect of ‘watching eyes’: An attempted replication and extension investigating individual differences, Rotella, A., Sparks, A., Mishra, S., Barclay, P. 6 Oct 2021, In: PLoS One

Aashira Sial Start Date: 01/10/2024

  • Psychology PhD June 30 2020
  • Psychology MSc September 15 2015
  • Biological Sciences BSc (Hons) June 07 2011


a sign in front of a crowd
+

Northumbria Open Days

Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.

Research at Northumbria
+

Research at Northumbria

Research is the life blood of a University and at Northumbria University we pride ourselves on research that makes a difference; research that has application and affects people's lives.

NU World
+

Explore NU World

Find out what life here is all about. From studying to socialising, term time to downtime, we’ve got it covered.


Latest News and Features

plastic bottles
Pictured in the NU-OMICS DNA sequencing research facility at Northumbria University are (left to right) Andrew Nelson, Kim Nguyen-Phuoc, Dr Matthew Bashton, Clare McCann and Professor Darren Smith.
Feeding Families volunteer holding a box in the warehouse
an image of the Earth from space
New study demonstrates an inclusive approach to leading research
a illustration showing a Victorian courtroom scene
More news
More events

Upcoming events

Interior Educators Conference 2024
-

Northumbria University Business and Law School

-

Back to top