McLachlan, Angus (Dr)


Email: a.mclachlan@federation.edu.a
Position: Associate
Discipline: Psychology

Qualifications

  • PhD
  • BA (Hons)

Professional associations

  • Australian Psychological Society
  • British Psychological Society

Research interests

I have a continuing interest in laughter and informal interaction, extending to notions of how humour is brought about and what it is to have a sense of humour - its form, measurement, and relation to health and well-being. Other topics with which I have been associated include mood, body image, physical attractiveness, self-esteem, social identity, and autism. Non-verbal communication and how we manage the fundamental social relationships of solidarity and status are also of interest but are not easy topics for research. Recently I have developed a passing interest in gender differences in visuo-spatial ability and have supervised two studies which explored the extent to which variations in this ability were related to biological sex, sexual orientation, motivation, and experience. Obviously, I lack a particular focus beyond laughter and humour and can be persuaded to supervise any project that a student is able to describe clearly, justify its importance, and is enthusiastic about. I have a distinct preference for experiments though I have also supervised a number of qualitative studies and a meta-analysis.

Publications (last 5 years)

Morris, S., McLaren, S., McLachlan, A. J., & Jenkins,M. (2015). Sense of belonging to specific communities and depressive symptoms among Australian gay men. Journal of Homosexuality, 62(6), 804-820.

Page, E., Shute, R., & McLachlan, A. (2015). A Self-Categorization Theory perspective on adolescent boys' sexual bullying of girls. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30(3), 371-383.

Andronaco, J.A., Shute, R., & McLachlan, A. (2014). Exploring Asynchrony as a theoretical framework for understanding giftedness: A case of cognitive dissonance? Roeper Review, 36, 264–272.

McLaren, S., Turner, J., Gomez, R., McLachlan, A. J., & Gibbs, P. M. (2013). Housing type, sense of belonging and depressive symptoms among older adults: A test of mediation and moderation models. Aging and Mental Health, 17(8), 1023-9.

Maude, M., Shute, R., & McLachlan, A. (2012). Cognitive specificity in trait anger in relation to depression and anxiety in a community sample, Australian Psychologist, 47, 247-261..