Behaviour and Attitude Change Research Group (BARG)

Behaviour and Attitude Change Research Group (BARG)

 

Main Research Focus and other areas of interest: To promote research, education, training, mentoring, clinical, organisational and health practice, and policy development in the area of behaviour change and psychosocial interventions.

 

Most recent research project: Development and Validation of e-Fingerprint Class Attendance Management System for Nigerian Universities.

 

Other recent research projects:

  • Understanding community responses to endemic methamphetamine use in Southeast Nigeria funded by the International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction (ICUDDR)
  • Hope Barometer International Research Program
  • Exploring the impact of crimes on the health of urban residents funded by the Community-led Responsive and Effective Urban Health Systems (CHORUS) University of Leeds, United Kingdom
  • General Health, Speech and Physical Activity Relationship Assessment Study in Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana and Tanzania
  • A cross-cultural study of the “geometry” of harmonious color combinations in CILAB color space
  • Expanding evidence for the Black Racialization Hypothesis-(Collaboration with the University of Toronto, Canada
  • Investigating associations between Media Exposure, Climate Anxiety and Mental Health (MECAMH)

 

Name of the coordinator: Prof Ike E. Onyishi

UNN email address of the RG

UNN email address of the coordinator: ernest.onyishi@unn.edu.ng

Current webpage of the RG: https://www.unn.edu.ng/research-groups/behaviour-and-attitude-change-research-group-barg/

Phone number of the RG: +2348037485355

Phone number of the coordinator: +2348037485355

Base Faculty/Institute /Centre of the RG: Faculty of the Social Sciences

Department of the coordinator: Psychology

Headshot of the coordinator

List and brief profiles of members:

  • Prof Ike E. Onyishi
  • Ike Onyishi holds a doctorate degree in organisational psychology. He is a Professor and Dean, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Ike was Acting Director, Centre for Policy and Research. He has served as a visiting scholar/research fellow in many leading universities, including the University of Muenster, Germany, University of Wroclaw, Poland, and Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. He is very active in research and has collaborated with over 100 scholars in more than fifty countries in many successful research projects. He has published over 100 papers in the areas of organisational behaviour, careers, employability, and other social issues. Some of his articles have appeared in reputable journals including the highly-ranked Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Communications, Psychological Science, Journal of Management and Organizations, and Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology. He has served as an editor/reviewer in many reputable journals. In addition to his research activities, he has consulted for many local and international businesses in the banking, oil and gas, telecommunications, and service sectors as well as for development agencies.  Ike Onyishi is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, and fellow of the Nigerian Psychological Association (NPA).

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GoVqanYAAAAJ&hl=en

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Iqxv-KcAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ike-Onyishi

  • Prof Lawrence O. Amazue

https://www.unn.edu.ng/internals/staff/viewProfile/NDUwMg–/5

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NA3fmtcAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lawrence-Amazue

  • Prof Philip Mefoh

Philip Chukwuemeka Mefoh is a Professor of Experimental Psychology in the Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. His research interest lies in the area of cognitive processes and general/indigenous psychology. Professor Philip C. Mefoh received the Ph.D Degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 2009. His PhD thesis won both the Faculty Prize and the Vice Chancellor’s Postgraduate Prize for the overall best PhD thesis in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka for 2008/2009 academic session. Professor Mefoh is a Fellow of the Nigerian Psychological Association (NPA) and was formerly Vice President of the Association between 2011 and 2017.

https://www.unn.edu.ng>Philip.mefoh

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=F6JpPN4AAAAJ&hl=en

https://researchgate.net>philip.mefoh

  • Rev Sr Dr Maria Chidi Onyedibe

Rev Sr Dr M.C.C. Onyedibe is a senior lecturer in Department of Psychology, UNN. She is currently a Postdoctoral fellow under Professor Karen Steindorf, (Head of Dept), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Foundation under Public Law, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria-Chidi-Onyedibe

 

  • Dr Tochukwu Charles Orjiakor

Tochukwu Orjiakor is a clinical and forensic psychologist with interest in understanding and rehabilitating deviant/offending behavior. He completed his doctorate degree in 2021 on the topic of appetitive aggression. He also researches into health systems and policy, focusing on accountability and transparency issues, and other inefficiencies that stalls health service delivery in African settings. Tochukwu teaches modules on forensic psychology and research methods.

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zQolRZ0AAAAJ

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tochukwu-Orjiakor

  • Dr JohnBosco Chika Chukwuorji

Dr JohnBosco Chika Chukwuorji is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He was a Fulbright scholar and visiting researcher at Cleveland State University Cleveland, Ohio USA (2019-2020). He holds a PhD in clinical psychology. As a research fellow in the Center for Translational and Implementation Research (CTAIR), University of Nigeria Nsukka, he is a core team member in the use of implementation science to enhance the effectiveness and quality of healthcare services in Nigeria. His research is focused on finding innovative approaches to provide quality mental healthcare for people living with challenging health conditions, forcibly displaced persons, justice-involved individuals, and other vulnerable populations. Since 2019 till date, Dr Chukwuorji has been consistently listed in top 500 authors in all research fields by scholarly output in Nigeria (courtesy of SciVal–Elsevier Authors Ranking of Authors). In addition to being the Editor of Nigerian Journal of Psychological Research (founded in 1986) since 2015, he serves on the editorial board of seven other reputable journals. In 2019, he won the Global Peer Reviewer Award (Top 1% in Psychiatry and Psychology), through Web of Science and Clarivate Analytics (Thompson Reuters) powered by Publons. He was an invited speaker at some international conferences including the First African Positive Psychology Conference (South Africa, 2018), National Symposium on Drugs and Drug Policy in Nigeria (Abuja, 2021). Professionally, he is actively involved in many associations including serving as the current secretary – Research and Scholarship Committee of the Nigerian Psychological Association (NPA). He is one of the four recipients of the Developing Country Fellowship Award (2022) of the ISSBD for his research on school bullying. Recently, he got a postdoctoral position in the College of Human Medicine, Division of Public Health, Michigan State University, USA. He desires to continue conducting impactful research as well as to serve as a mentor and help to train the next generation of mental health implementation scientists and dissemination researchers.

https://www.unn.edu.ng/internals/staff/viewProfile/NDUwOQ–/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=8TdJDikAAAAJ

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Johnbosco_Chukwuorji

  • Dr Chikodiri Nwangwu

Chikodiri Nwangwu is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He holds Ph.D in political economy from the same University. His research and teaching interests straddle security, peace & conflict, election, and social movements. He has published well-researched articles in several reputable journals, including African Affairs, Society, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Armed Forces & Society, Security Journal, Democracy and Security, International Feminist Journal of Politics, Review of African Political Economy, Japanese Journal of Political Science, among others. In 2017, Dr Nwangwu was among the recipients of the University of Nigeria Vice Chancellor’s Financial Award of Academic Excellence for his publications in Thom­son Reuters indexed journals. Between 2020 and 2022, Dr Nwangwu served as the Secretary of the Faculty of the Social Sciences Conference Committee at the University of Nigeria. Dr Nwangwu is an Associate Editor of the University of Nigeria Journal of Political Economy (UNJPE). Alongside two other colleagues, Dr Nwangwu is currently guest-editing a special issue of the African Renaissance journal. He has consulted for Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Nigeria, Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), and Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD). He is also an active member of the APSA, NPSA, AROCSA, NYA and CORN-West Africa.

  • Dr Nche George: A lecturer and holds a Ph.D in religion and society at the department of Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). His major research focus is on Religion and Ecology where he explores the intersection between religious beliefs/values/actors and climate change/environmental sustainability. Other research foci are environmental ethics, religion and social issues. He is currently researching the influence of religious affiliation and attendance on climate change interpretations and actions among churchgoers in Nigeria, where he aims to provide important insights to guide engagements or conversations about climate change with different Christian denominations in Nigeria. Dr Nche has authored/co-authored about 50 peer-reviewed publications, organized and attended many local and international conferences. Dr Nche is currently an Associate Editor of Nigerian Journal of Social Sciences, and member of professional organizations such as the Nigerian Association for the Study of Religions (NASR), the Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa (ASRSA), the Centre for the Study of Religion and Politics (CSRP) – Scholarsat the Peripheries and many others.

https://www.unn.edu.ng/internals/staff/viewProfile/NTAz

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chikodiri-Nwangwu

  • Dr Kingsley Ibeawuchi Enwereuzor

https://www.unn.edu.ng/internals/staff/viewProfile/NDQ5NQ–

  • Dr Chiemezie Attama. She holds Bachelor and Masters degrees in Sociology/Anthropology, specializing in population studies. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State Nigeria. She has taught General Demography and Sociology of the Family  at the undergraduate level. Her research interests are on issues in population, health and development.

http://www.unn.edu.ng/internals/staff/viewProfile/MTQ2

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8X0mEAYAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chiemezie-Atama

  • Mr Amuche Onyishi

https://www.unn.edu.ng/internals/staff/viewProfile/NDYxNw–

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amuche-Onyishi-2

  • Miss Peace N. Amanambu

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peace-Amanambu

  • Mr Chiagoziem Aneke

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chiagoziem-Aneke

10 key publications of the RG from 2019 till date

  • Onyishi, I. E., Ugwu, F. O., Ugwu, L. E., Ujoatuonu, I. V., Okeja, U. (2022). The ‘African time’ syndrome: Understanding lateness among Nigerian public service workers. Journal of Social Services Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2022.2139041
  • Iorfa, S. K., Onyishi, A. B., Anozie, E. U., Chukwuorji, J. C., & Ifeagwazi, C. M. (2021). Sexual violence and child poverty: Lived experiences of child sexual violence survivors in Nigeria. Journal of Social Service Research. Online first. doi: 10.1080/01488376.2021.1979710
  • Ogba, K. T. U., Onyishi, I. E., & Chukwuorji, J. C. (2021). Self-disclosure in intimate relationships: Moderating role of online moral foundations. Current Psychology: Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, 40, 4785–4790. doi: 10.1007/s12144-019-00420-9
  • Ugwu, D. I., Onyedibe, MC. C., & Chukwuorji, C. (2020). Anxiety sensitivity and psychological distress among hypertensive patients: the mediating role of experiential avoidance. Psychology Health & Medicine, doi 10. 1080/13548506.2020.1764599.
  • Onyishi, I. E., Amaeshi, K., Ugwu, F. O., Enwereuzor, I. K. (2020). Going the extra mile because my organization does: How does corporate social responsibility influence organizational citizenship? Management and Organization Review, 16(1), 169-197.
  • Nwangwu, C., Onuoha, F.C., Nwosu, B.U. & Ezeibe, C. (2020). The political economy of Biafra separatism and post-war Igbo nationalism in Nigeria. African Affairs, 119 (477), 526–551. Doi: 10.1093/afraf/adaa025.
  • Onyishi, I. E., Enwereuzor, I. K., Ogbonna, M. N., Ugwu, F. O., &Amazue, L. O. (2019). Role of career satisfaction in basic psychological needs satisfaction and career commitment of nurses in Nigeria: A self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Nursing Scholarship. doi: 10.1111/jnu.12474
  • Orjiakor, C. T., Eze, J., Chinweoke, M., Ezenwa, M., Orjiakor, I., Onwujekwe, O., & Palamar, J. (2023). A systematic review of actors, actions, and outcomes of community-based efforts to prevent or reduce methamphetamine use. Addiction Research & Theory, 1-10.
  • Zickfeld, J. H., et al. (2021). Tears evoke the intention to offer social support: a systematic investigation of the interpersonal effects of emotional crying across 41 countries. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 95, 104137 104137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104137
  • Nche, G. C. (2020). The religion-environment (climate change) connection: Evidence from Nigeria. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture and Ecology, 24(1), 81-115.

List of patents/exhibitions/shows/productions, etc from 2019 till date:

Free Research Methodology Training/Workshop in collaboration with Aphriapub Limited at University of Nigeria, Nsukka (March 2019).