Katherine White

Professor Katherine White is a distinguished academic in the Faculty of Health at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where she is a Professor in the School of Psychology & Counselling. She holds a PhD from the University of Queensland and is a leading researcher in social and health psychology.

• PhD: University of Queensland

Her primary research interests lie in social psychology, with a strong focus on attitude-behaviour relations, group norms and processes, social identity theory, altruism, and the prediction of health care behaviours. She employs experimental and correlational paradigms to understand and promote health-protective actions, such as sun safety, hand hygiene, and safe driving. Her work is highly applied, aiming to develop and evaluate theory-based interventions for real-world health and social issues.

Professor White's recent publications reflect a dynamic research program that spans traditional health psychology and emerging technologies. Her 2025 articles explore the intersection of AI and healthcare, examining empathy in human-robot interaction and user acceptance of ChatGPT for health advice. Concurrently, she continues her core research on prosocial behaviour, as seen in her meta-analysis on charitable donations, and on health behaviour, with studies on male body hair removal and mental health help-seeking in young men. This demonstrates a consistent application of social psychological theories like the Theory of Planned Behaviour to a diverse range of contemporary topics.

Professor White has been the principal investigator on several significant Australian Competitive Grants, including projects on plasma donation, hand hygiene interventions, sun-safe practices, anti-speeding campaigns, and rural volunteer motivations. She has successfully supervised numerous doctoral students on topics related to health behaviour, organ donation, and road safety. Her research is disseminated through a robust publication record in high-impact journals.

She is actively involved in her research community, with profiles on ORCID and Scopus, and her work contributes substantially to both academic knowledge and practical applications in public health and social policy.