Charlie Lea

Charlie Lea is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Brighton, affiliated with the Inclusive Digital Societies Research Excellence Group and holding a Fellowship with the Higher Education Academy since 2016.

His research centers on positive psychology, specifically investigating cognitive processes in life satisfaction judgments, the role of money in well-being, and friendship-coping relationships in social psychology. He employs diverse methodologies including experimental paradigms, think-aloud interviews, thematic analysis, and online data collection to explore hedonic/eudaimonic well-being and flow states.

Recent publications demonstrate interdisciplinary expansion into animal-human interaction studies and educational psychology, with 2024 work on dog ownership mechanisms and 2023 contributions to student anxiety datasets reflecting applied research trends.

Scientific awards include:

• University of Brighton Excellence in Facilitating and Empowering Learning (EFEL) Award (2017)
• University of Brighton Excellence in Facilitating and Empowering Learning (EFEL) Award (2019)

Dr. Lea actively supervises doctoral research in positive psychology domains including life satisfaction assessment, improvisation-wellbeing connections, and social psychology topics related to friendship dynamics, maintaining an open-door policy for prospective PhD candidates.

He contributes to the Inclusive Digital Societies Research Excellence Group, focusing on digital inclusion frameworks and societal impacts of technology through collaborative academic initiatives.