Dr Chanki Moon is a lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Psychology & Criminology in the Department of Law & Criminology, Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the Deputy Director of the Institute for the Study of Power, Crime and Society. He previously worked as a lecturer, Postdoctoal Research Associate and Teaching Fellow at Leeds Beckett University (UK), University of Kent (UK) and Chonnam National University (South Korea). Chanki’s research is in the area of social and cultural psychology and his primary research interests focus on how individuals’ values and norms as well as emotional, cognitive and behavioral outcomes associated with power and status in social interactions can be shaped by culture. His PhD in Social and Cultural Psychology was awarded by the University of Kent (UK), where he developed his research focusing on cultural differences in social hierarchies/power, incivility and norms.

Dr Moon’s work has been published in internationally leading journals, including European Journal of Social Psychology, Political Psychology, and International Journal of Conflict Management. His work has been internationally recognised and has been featured on reputable media outlets (BBC Worklife, Time).

Dr. Moon holds prestigious positions in the academic community, currently serving as an Associate Editor for Current Psychology, an internationally renowned journal in the field of psychology. Additionally, Dr. Moon is a distinguished member of the editorial boards for two leading scientific journals: the British Journal of Social Psychology and the International Journal of Conflict Management.

I am primarily interested in understanding and examining how individuals’ psychological process and behaviours are shaped by culture and vice versa. My research is not limited to the national level of culture, it also focuses on individual and group/organisational levels of culture. I am currently focusing on three main research categories, aiming to address important social and cultural issues within and across a broad range of different settings:

1. Power and Incivility/Deviance

I examine how individuals’ values and norms as well as emotional, cognitive and behavioural outcomes in interpersonal and intergroup relationships can be shaped by cultural settings. One strand of research activity is focused on cultural variations in power, incivility and norms.

2. Radicalisation and collective actions

I also examine the cultural underpinnings of individuals' engagement in collective forms of political behaviours, including demonstrating and protesting, signing petitions or voting across a variety of contexts, geographical areas and issues. Recently, I have been particularly focusing on psychological mechenism underlying radicalization and violent behaviour. I examine how these mechanisms interact with individuals' perceptions of social and political systems as well as their belief systems within and across different cultural groups (e.g., Korea, Italy, the UK and the US). - with Prof. Giovanni Travaglino

3. (Social) Vigilantism

I recently found my new interest in the topic of vigilantism. I want to explore why and when illegal or semi-legal actors’ or groups’ actions against legal system are likely to be supported and legitimised by the people in society through the psychological lens. Again, this line of work will focus on the role of cultural values and norms.   

*Additional Keywords of my research interests: Power Distance, Social Dominance, (In)justice, Trust, System Justification, Worldviews, Social norms, Narcissism    

[Modules]

• CR2010 - Research Methods for Psychologists (Quantitative methods)
• Dissertation Supervision
  • BSc in Criminology & Psychology
  • MSc in Forensic Psychology

[PhD Supervision]

• Alex Griffin (2nd supervisor)
• Caroline Turner (2nd supervisor)
• Andrew Salkeld (External)