Dr Lewis Goodings

Lewis is a qualitative social psychologist who explores ways of improving the quality of life for people with learning disabilities. This includes a focus on participatory design and co-design. He is also interested in the way that self and identity are mediated via social media technologies.

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Background

Lewis joined ARU in 2017, having gained his PhD in Social Psychology from Loughborough University in 2010. His PhD focussed on the way people communicate in social network sites, focussing on issues of self, identity and community. Since then, Lewis has worked at the University of Roehampton and at the University of East London.

Lewis is a qualitative social psychologist who is interested in the use of social media and other digital technologies, focussing on the changing ways people interact with new forms of technology. This aims to examine the subjective or collective spaces that afford complex relations of thinking, feeling and acting. He is a member of the Applied Health and Social Justice Research Group.

Research interests

• Improving quality of life for people with learning disabilities
• Mental health apps and social media sites: examining and evaluating the impact of introducing different digital technologies into mental health communities
• Space, affect and the body: looking at how our experiences are shaped by the spaces we inhabit and the affective practices therein
• Qualitative methods: primarily discursive methods but open to all qualitative methods

Areas of research supervision

• The use of social media and social psychology (eg self, identity or community practices)
• Mental health apps and how people live in concert with these technologies
• The benefits or challenges that are associated with connecting via digital technologies

Teaching

Lewis is the Course Leader for the MSc Psychology (Conversion) course. He is also module leader for two modules: Self & Society (Level 4) and Cyberpsychology (Level 6). He contributes to a range of modules on social psychology, contemporary issues and qualitative methods.

Qualifications

• PhD, Loughborough University, 2010
• BSc (Hons) Loughborough University, 2005

Memberships, editorial boards

• Chartered Psychologist, British Psychological Society
• Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• ‘Digital Inclusion for People with learning Disabilities’. BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant £9,471.80.
• ‘Social Media and Austerity’ Communities & Culture Network +EPSRC £32,901.
• ‘Follow on Project: Social Media and Austerity’ Communities & Culture Network + EPSRC £10,000.

Selected recent publications

Donois, K. K., Goodings, L. and Carey, E. W. (2026) 'Communicating Contested Science in a Polarized World: Scientists’ Views on Science Communication', Sage Open, 16(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440261417757

Finlay, W. M. L., Cattier, J., Donois, K., Goodings, L., Kaminskiy, E., Owen, C., ... and Swami, V. (2025) 'Norms concerning the recognition of victimhood in postconflict societies: An analysis of “whatabouteries” in online sectarian arguments', Political Psychology, 46(1), pp. 205-224. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12988

Donois, K. K., Goodings, L., Finlay, M. and Gibson, N. (2025) 'Contested science communication: Representations of scientists and their science in newspaper articles and the associated comment sections', Public Understanding of Science, 34(6), pp. 810-828. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09636625251325453

Simmons, N., Goodings, L. and Tucker, I. (2024) 'Experiences of Using Mental Health Apps to Support Psychological Health and Wellbeing', Journal of Applied Social Science, 18(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/193672442311967

Goodings, L., Ellis, D. and Tucker, I. (2024) Understanding mental health apps: an applied psychosocial perspective. Cham: Springer Nature. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53911-4