Dr Ana Leite is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Durham University. She is a social and organisational psychologist with business (Deloitte Consulting) and academic experience (University of Porto, University of Roehampton, and University of Kent). She is mainly interested in (1) investigating the reasons for social inclusion and exclusion of individuals within and between groups and (2) testing effective strategies for promoting social inclusion, prosociality, and well-being.

Dr Leite’s PhD investigated the conditions that (1) lead groups to accept ingroup deviant members and (2) allow deviant members to gain influence within their groups. Her current research focuses on:

  • Leadership, gender bias, and well-being at work
  • Rejection vs. acceptance of deviant, extremist, and unethical group members and consequences for group dynamics
  • Strategies to reduce prejudice and promote outgroup prosociality
  • Speciesism and strategies to improve human-animal relations 

Email: ana.castro-leite@durham.ac.uk

Selected Publications

  • Leite, A. C., Dhont, K., & Hodson, G. (2019). Longitudinal effects of human supremacy beliefs and vegetarianism threat on moral exclusion (vs. inclusion) of animals. European Journal of Social Psychology. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2497.
  • Randsley de Moura, G., Leicht, C., Leite, A. C., Crisp, R., & Gocłowska, M. (2018). Leadership diversity: Effects of counterstereotypical thinking on the support for women leaders under uncertainty. Journal of Social Issues, 74165-183doi: 10.1111/josi.12262
  • Van de Vyver, J., Leite, A. C., Abrams, D., & Palmer, S. B. (2018). Brexit or bremain? A person and social analysis of voting decisions in the EU referendum. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 28, 65-79. doi: 10.1002/casp.2341
  • Douglas, K. M., & Leite, A. C. (2017). Suspicion in the workplace: Organizational conspiracy theories and work-related outcomes. British Journal of Psychology, 108(3), 486–506. doi: 10.1111/bjop.12212
  • Dhont, K., Hodson, G., & Leite, A. C. (2016). Common ideological roots of speciesism and generalized ethnic prejudice: The social dominance human-animal relations model (SD-HARM). European Journal of Personality, 30, 507-522. doi: 10.1002/per.2069

Full publication list