Staff profile

I am a social and organisational psychologist with business and academic experience. Before beginning my PhD, I worked for Deloitte (consulting). During this period, I worked with a variety of clients from different industries in developing and improving their HR strategies. This experience now informs my research in organisational psychology and consultancy work.

I joined Durham University as an Assistant Professor in Social/ Organisational Psychology in June 2019. Previously, I was a Lecturer in Social and Organisational Psychology and a Research Associate at the University of Kent, and a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Roehampton.

I continue my collaborative work with the University of Kent, where I am currently an Honorary Lecturer.

Research Interests

My research interests focus on areas of leadership, identity, and social inclusion and exclusion of individuals and groups across different contexts.

Current research projects include:

• Leadership and employee well-being
• Social identity, health, and well-being
• Gender and ethnic bias in organisations
• Speciesism and moral inclusion of animals
• Sustainability and pro-environmental behaviour

Chapter in book

• Dhont, K., Hodson, G., Leite, A., & Salmen, A. (2019). The Psychology of Speciesism. In K. Dhont, & G. Hodson (Eds.), Why We Love and Exploit Animals: Bridging Insights from Academia and Advocacy. Routledge

Journal Article

• Vasiljevic, M., Hughes, J. P., Andersen, C. D., Pennington, G., Leite, A. C., Weick, M., & Couturier, D. (2024). Can warning labels communicating the environmental impact of meat reduce meat consumption? Evidence from two multiple treatment reversal experiments in college dining halls. Food Quality and Preference, 115, Article 105084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.105084
• Brown, A., & Leite, A. (2023). The effects of social and organizational connectedness on employee well-being and remote working experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 53(2), 134-152. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12934
• Weick, M., Couturier, L., Vasiljevic, M., Ross, P., Cory, C., Crisp, R., …Van de Vyver, J. (2022). Building bonds: A pre-registered secondary data analysis examining linear and curvilinear relations between socio-economic status and communal attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 102, Article 104353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104353
• Edwards, M., Leite, A., Randsley de Moura, G., & Marques, A. (2022). Let’s talk about Brexit: Intra-organizational communication, citizenship status, procedural justice and job insecurity in a context of potential immigration threat. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(5), 1037-1064. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2020.1754883
• Hughes, J., Efstratiou, A., Komer, S., Baxter, L., Vasiljevic, M., & Leite, A. (2022). The impact of risk perceptions and belief in conspiracy theories on COVID-19 pandemic-related behaviours. PLoS ONE, 17(2), Article e0263716. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263716
• Martinescu, E., Edwards, M., Leite, A., Randsley de Moura, G., Abrams, D., & Marques, A. (2022). The interactive effect of job skill level and citizenship status on job depression, work engagement and turnover intentions: A moderated mediation model in the context of macro-level turbulence (of 'Brexit'). Human Resource Management Journal, https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12489
• Marques, A., Pinto, I., Leite, A., Randsley de Moura, G., van Prooijen, J., & Marques, J. (2021). “A Right to Lead”: The Role of Leader Legitimacy on Group Reactions to Transgressive Leadership. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 51(4), 350-362. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12739
• Abrams, D., Lalot, F., Hopthrow, T., Templeton, A., Steeden, B., Özkeçeci, H., …Peckham, S. (2021). Cleaning up our acts: Psychological interventions to reduce engine idling and improve air quality. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 74, Article 101587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101587
• Van de Vyver, J., Leite, A. C., & Alwan, N. A. (2021). Navigating the social identity of long covid. BMJ, 375, Article n2933. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2933
• Jolley, D., Douglas, K. M., Leite, A. C., & Schrader, T. (2019). Belief in conspiracy theories and intentions to engage in everyday crime. British Journal of Social Psychology, 58(3), 534-549. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12311
• Tresh, F., Steeden, B., Randsley de Moura, G., Leite, A. C., Swift, H. J., & Player, A. (2019). Endorsing and Reinforcing Gender and Age Stereotypes: The Negative Effect on Self-Rated Leadership Potential for Women and Older Workers. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 688. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00688
• Player, A., Randsley de Moura, G., Leite, A. C., Abrams, D., & Tresh, F. (2019). Overlooked Leadership Potential: The Preference for Leadership Potential in Job Candidates Who Are Men vs. Women. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 755. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00755
• Player, A., Abrams, D., Van de Vyver, J., Meleady, R., Leite, A., Randsley de Moura, G., & Hopthrow, T. (2018). “We aren’t idlers”: Using subjective group dynamics to promote prosocial driver behavior at long‐wait stops. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 48(11), 643-648. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12554
• Leite, A. C., Dhont, K., & Hodson, G. (2018). Longitudinal effects of human supremacy beliefs and vegetarianism threat on moral exclusion (vs. inclusion) of animals. European Journal of Social Psychology, 49(1), 179-189. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2497
• Randsley de Moura, G., Leicht, C., Leite, A., Crisp, R., & Gocłowska, M. (2018). Leadership Diversity: Effects of Counterstereotypical Thinking on the Support for Women Leaders under Uncertainty. Journal of Social Issues, 74(1), 165-183. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12262
• Van de Vyver, J., Leite, A., Abrams, D., & Palmer, S. (2018). Brexit or bremain? A person and social analysis of voting decisions in the EU referendum. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 28(2), 65-79. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2341
• Meleady, R., Abrams, D., Van de Vyver, J., Hopthrow, T., Mahmood, L., Player, A., …Leite, A. (2017). Surveillance or self-surveillance? Behavioral cues can increase the rate of drivers' pro-environmental behavior at a long wait stop. Environment and Behavior, 49(10), 1156-1172. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916517691324
• Leite, A. C., Cardoso, S. G., Marques, A. G., & Morais, C. (2017). Believing is adapting: Belief in a just world and emigrants’identification and satisfaction with the host country /Creer esadaptarse: Creer en un mundo justo y la identificación ysatisfacción de los emigrantes con el país de acogida. International Journal of Social Psychology, 32(2), 424-439. https://doi.org/10.1080/02134748.2017.1291743
• 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(6), 507-522. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2069
• Douglas, K. M., & Leite, A. C. (2016). Suspicion in the workplace: Organizational conspiracy theories and work-related outcomes. British Journal of Psychology, 108(3), 486-506. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12212
• Lins, S. L. B. L., Campos, M., Leite, A. C., Carvalho, C. L., Cardoso, S., & Natividade, J. C. (2016). Evidências de validade da Escala de Orientação para a Comparação Social (INCOM) para o contexto de adolescentes portugueses. Psicologia (Associação Portuguesa de Psicologia. 1980), 30(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v30i1.1034
• Leite, A. C., Pinto, I. R., & Marques, J. M. (2016). Do Ambiguous Normative Ingroup Members Increase Tolerance for Deviants?. Swiss journal of psychology, 75(1), 47-52. https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000170

Newspaper/Magazine Article

• Leite, A., Ridge, D., & Alwan, N. (2022). What's it like being a young person with long COVID? You might feel like a failure (but you're not)
• Leite, A., Ridge, D., & Alwan, N. (2022). Four ways to support a friend or loved one with long COVID

Report

• Van de Vyver, J., & Leite, A. (2019). Story-telling and Prejudice: A practical indirect intervention for reducing prejudice against Asylum Seekers and Refugees among adults in the UK. [No known commissioning body]