Rate My Professor Gabriela Jiga-Boy

Dr Gabriela Jiga-Boy is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Swansea University. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She then pursued advanced studies at Université Grenoble Alpes in France, earning a master’s degree and a PhD in experimental social psychology in 2008. Her early career included a role as Research Assistant at Cardiff University in 2009 and a three-year Postdoctoral Research Assistant position at Swansea University starting the same year. She progressed to Lecturer in 2012 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2016. Jiga-Boy also served as a Visiting PhD student researcher at VU University Amsterdam in 2007 and as Associate staff at University College London from 2017 to 2021.

A social psychologist, Jiga-Boy investigates how thoughts including memories, forecasts, and values shape current and expected emotions. Her research encompasses social cognition, applied social psychology, behaviour change, political psychology, mindfulness mechanisms for regulating future-oriented emotions, and trust as a factor in political partisanship. She has authored numerous publications in prestigious journals, such as 'Self-administered mindfulness interventions reduce stress in a large, randomized controlled multi-site study' (Nature Human Behaviour, 2024), 'Party over pandemic: Polarized trust in political leaders and experts explains public support for COVID-19 policies' (Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 2022), 'Multinational data show that conspiracy beliefs are associated with the perception (and reality) of poor national economic performance' (European Journal of Social Psychology, 2023), 'So much to do and so little time: Effort and perceived temporal distance' (Psychological Science, 2010), and 'Sensitivity to reward and punishment: Associations with diet, alcohol consumption, and smoking' (Personality and Individual Differences, 2015). Recognized with awards including the Welsh Crucible Future Research Leaders programme in 2013, the European Association of Social Psychology Summer School in 2008, and a competitive doctoral studies grant from the French Ministry of Research and Education in 2004 (£32,850), she chairs the School of Psychology Research Ethics sub-Committee. Jiga-Boy contributes to public engagement through podcasts, media commentary, and supervises postgraduate students. She is fluent in French and Romanian.