Rate My Professor Abigail Pigden

Dr. Abigail Pigden is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago, where she earned her BA (Hons) and PhD. She maintains an affiliation with the Department of General Practice and Rural Health, Dunedin School of Medicine. Her PhD thesis, titled "Is the Pen Mightier than the Sword? Testing the Effects of Fiction on Empathy and Aggression, and Introducing a Hybrid Model of Media Effects" (2021), investigated the psychological effects of fictional media on empathy and aggression. Pigden's research focuses on health psychology, primary health care research, and media effects. Key publications include "The Southern Primary Care Research Network 3 years on – reflections from the end of the beginning" (2025, The Journal of Primary Health Care, co-authored with S. Leitch, A. Ryde, C. Atmore, J.R. Li, T. Moerenhout, W. Yeo, and others), which provides reflections on the network's establishment and progress; "Developing a national primary care research network: a qualitative study of stakeholder views" (2022, The Journal of Primary Health Care, co-authored with T. Stokes, S. Crengle, T. Dowell, B. Hudson, L. Toop, L. McBain, and others), exploring stakeholder perspectives; and "Developing a national primary care research and surveillance network: a qualitative study of stakeholder views" (2022, Australian Journal of Primary Health, co-authored with T. Stokes and C. Atmore). She has also contributed to an editorial in primary health care literature.

In her teaching role, Pigden lectures PSYC324 Health Psychology, which examines biopsychosocial models of health including Te Whare Tapa Whā, stress and coping, links between personality, emotions, and health, social and contextual factors in health from international and Aotearoa New Zealand perspectives, connections between mental and physical health, psychological processes in chronic conditions, the psychology of placebos and pain, psychoneuroimmunology, wellness promotion, disease prevention, health psychology interventions, research methods, and career pathways in the field. She also teaches PSYC423 Advanced Topics in Health Psychology, covering research methods, health promotion, and adherence, and PSYC204 Justice, Race and Class. Pigden presented at the University of Otago's 2024 Psycolloquy on "Introducing an equity-focussed Primary Care Research Network," describing the establishment of a regional network through partnerships with tangata whenua, primary care providers, and academics. This involved co-design with Māori leaders to ensure equity, resulting in governance structures, an operational team, multiple research projects, and a community research prioritisation exercise.