Lisa Anne Williams

Professor Lisa Anne Williams is a social psychologist at the University of New South Wales, School of Psychology. Her research explores how emotions shape and are shaped by social processes, with a specific focus on the adaptive functions of positive social emotions such as pride and gratitude across intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intergroup contexts.

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Northeastern University (2009)
• M.A. in Social Psychology from Northeastern University (2006)
• B.A. in Psychology from Lewis and Clark College (2004)

Professor Williams' research spans positive emotions (pride, gratitude, compassion), prosocial behavior (charitable giving, blood donation, volunteering), loneliness, and nonverbal behavior (facial expressions, eye contact). She employs diverse methodologies including interpersonal emotion inductions, experience sampling, and psychophysiology, with notable focus on blood donation behavior and equity/diversity initiatives.

Her research has been supported by multiple ARC grants examining the emotional psychology of blood donors, pride in intergroup settings, and emotional responses in romantic relationships.

Her awards include:

• 2017 UNSW Faculty of Science June Griffith Fellowship for Women in Leadership
• 2014 Australian Psychological Society UNSW Lecturer of the Year

Professor Williams actively supervises students in social psychology, emotion research, wellbeing, and gender equity. She maintains extensive collaborations across UNSW, Australian universities, and international institutions while promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM and higher education through empirical research and practical programs.