Rate My Professor Laura Smith

Laura G. E. Smith is a Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. She serves as Co-Director of the Bath Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour, lead of the Digital Lives lab, and Deputy Director of the ESRC Network Plus for Analytical Behavioural Science for Security and Defence. Prior to joining the University of Bath in 2011, she held academic positions at the University of Queensland, Australia, from 2008 to 2011. Smith earned her PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Exeter in 2008, with a thesis on the impact of intragroup interaction on intergroup relations. She also holds an MSc in Social and Organisational Psychology (2005) and a BSc in Psychology (2004) from the University of Exeter.

Her research investigates how human psychology and behaviour interact with digital technologies, with a focus on polarization, radicalization, social movements, and collective action in both online and offline contexts. Funded by major UK research councils, her work addresses opportunities, vulnerabilities, and risks posed by digital communication. In 2016, she received a mid-career Fellowship from the British Academy to study the psychology of online radicalization. Smith was Chief Editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology from 2020 to 2022. Key publications include 'Online Signals of Extremist Mobilization' (2026, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin), 'A Primer on Politicization, Polarization, Radicalization, and Activation and their Implications for Democracy in Times of Rapid Technological Change' (2025, British Journal of Social Psychology), 'A randomised feasibility trial comparing group and individual format Groups for Health interventions for loneliness in people who experience psychosis' (2025, Psychology and Psychotherapy), and 'Development and testing of a dimensional typology of cyberdeviance' (2025, Information Society). Her contributions extend to policy influence, including providing evidence to MPs on online extremism, and leadership in initiatives tackling online harms and security.