Professor Rusi Jaspal

MA (Cantab) MSc PhD CPsychol FBPsS FRSA FHEA FRSPH FAcSS

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Knowledge Exchange)

Rusi Jaspal is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Knowledge Exchange) and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom. He is a Chartered Psychologist and Fellow of the British Psychological Society,  and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Society of Public Health, and the Higher Education Academy.

Professor Jaspal's research focuses on the development of Identity Process Theory which explains how people construct their identity and, particularly, how they react when it is threatened. Using the theory, he has conducted extensive research into coming out among lesbian, gay, and bisexual people; psychological wellbeing in minority groups; the psychological effects of experiencing ghosting and other abusive dating behaviours; personality traits and mental health; the management of identities in conflict; national identity; prejudice and discrimination; public understanding of science, technology and medicine; HIV; and the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. His current research examines the relationship between identity processes and mental health, focusing specifically on outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, paranoia, and life satisfaction. 

Rusi Jaspal is the author or editor of 7 books, the most recent of which is The Psychology of Coming Out: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identities, and has written hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and several reports for the Department of Health. He supervises and examines PhD students in his areas of expertise.

Rusi Jaspal studied at the University of Cambridge, the University of Surrey, and Royal Holloway, University of London. After his PhD, he completed an ESRC post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Nottingham. In 2015, Rusi Jaspal was awarded a personal chair in Psychology and Sexual Health at De Montfort University Leicester where he also held a number of senior posts, including that of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research). He has also held professorships at Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland, where he helped set up the Minority Research Profile, and at Nottingham Trent University, UK, where he founded and led the Identity Change Research Group. Professor Jaspal has also served as Social Isolation Advisor to Wandsworth Borough Council, London.

Prof Jaspal serves on the following editorial boards:

Prof Jaspal has served on many national and international committees relating to his research, including the Steering Committee of HIV Prevention England, the Advisory Group of the National HIV Commission, the Medical Board of NAZ Project London, the Board of Trustees of the LGBT Foundation, the Board of Trustees of the Leicestershire AIDS Support Service (LASS), the Board of Trustees of Saving Lives, the Board of Trustees of Stonewall Housing, the Working Group for the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV Recommendations for Integrated Sexual Health Services for Trans, Including Non-Binary Patients, and the Advisory Board of the Terrence Higgins Trust. In 2018, he delivered a keynote lecture on the social psychology of HIV prevention and care to the British HIV Association/ British Association for Sexual Health and HIV Joint Annual Conference. 

Rusi Jaspal has won several awards for his research, including: