Rate My Professor Hitaua Arahanga-Doyle

Dr Hitaua Arahanga-Doyle (Ngāi Tahu, Te Ati Haunui-a-Pāpārangi) is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago. He earned a BCom in Marketing Management and a BA (Hons First Class) in Psychology from the University of Otago in 2015, followed by a PhD from the same institution in 2021. His doctoral thesis, "Blending whanaungatanga and belonging: a wise intervention," examined the benefits of whanaungatanga/belonging on tertiary students, particularly first-year Māori students, through brief social psychology interventions. After completing his PhD, Arahanga-Doyle joined the Department of Psychology as a Lecturer and serves as Principal Investigator for Te Pūnaha Matatini.

Arahanga-Doyle's research focuses on social psychology, Kaupapa Māori Psychology, social identity, belonging and ostracism, cultural and cross-cultural psychology, adolescent resilience, self-esteem, and cultural understandings of identity. He links core Māori values such as whanaungatanga with theories of belonging and social identity. Key publications include Fox, R., Arahanga-Doyle, H., et al. (2025). "Tales from the trenches: The barriers to and facilitators of decolonizing doctoral research in psychology departments of Aotearoa." American Psychologist, 80(8), 1272-1284; Hunter, J. A., et al. (2025). "Social identity is associated with the long-term growth of personal efficacy in an Adventure Education Program (AEP)." Group Dynamics (advance online); Arahanga-Doyle, H., & Ruffman, T. (2024). "Information Regarding Shared Genes Between Humans Improves Attitudes Towards World Members." European Journal of Social Psychology, 55(1), 70-82; Scarf, D., et al. (2024). "Social Identity Mapping With Justice-Involved Young People: Exploring Identity Pathways to Aid the Desistance of Criminal Offending." Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 34(6), e70017; Koni, E., Moradi, S., Arahanga-Doyle, H., et al. (2019). "Promoting resilience in adolescents: A new social identity benefits those who need it most." PLOS ONE, 14(1), e0210521. His publications have received over 200 citations.

He received the Fulbright New Zealand General Graduate Award in 2019 for research at Stanford University and Northwestern University, and the University of Otago’s 20Twenties Young Alumni Award in 2020. He was profiled in the University’s magazine He Kitenga – Talented Futures in 2022.