Rory Maclean

Dr. Rory Maclean is a Lecturer in Psychology within the School of Applied Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University, where he has been teaching and conducting research since 2004. His academic credentials include a BSc (Hons), PhD from the University of Aberdeen (where he investigated adult ageing and creativity), SFHEA accreditation, and MBPsS membership. He previously worked as an ad-hoc lecturer in psychology at Robert Gordon University before joining Edinburgh Napier.

Dr. Maclean's primary research focuses on the psychology of creativity, examining how creative processes relate to cognitive functions (particularly attention), emotion, and applications in the performing arts. His secondary research areas include forensic psychology, where he has extensively studied jury decision-making processes, and personality psychology, with specialized expertise in narcissism research - particularly gender differences in narcissistic expression and relationship to intimate partner violence. He has also made significant contributions to understanding immigrant well-being, challenging the predominant focus on stress by exploring positive psychological changes among economic migrants.

His publication record reveals three dominant research trajectories: 1) Forensic psychology studies examining how jurors process evidence and reach verdicts, including investigations of the unique Scottish "Not Proven" verdict; 2) Gender-focused narcissism research exploring differential manifestations and consequences in intimate partner violence contexts; and 3) Positive psychology studies of immigrant experiences that document psychological growth beyond traditional stress-focused migration research.

Dr. Maclean actively supervises doctoral research, currently guiding two part-time PhD candidates (Felicity Gregory on creativity-STEM pedagogy integration and Lewis Durrand on musicians' online identity development) while having successfully supervised two others to completion (Barbara Piotrowska on dyslexia screening and Lindsey Carruthers on creativity-attention relationships). His teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate levels, covering memory, creativity, individual differences, and research methodology, with international experience including a Singapore-based individual differences module.

• Psychology Research Group
• Centre for Mind and Creativity Research
• Centre for Conservation and Restoration Science

These institutional affiliations provide the framework for his collaborative research activities across multiple domains of psychological inquiry.