Dr Nikhila Mahadevan BA, MSc, PhD

Visiting research fellow

Dr Nikhila Mahadevan is Visiting research fellow within Psychology at the University of Southampton.

I obtained my BA in Psychology, English Literature, and Mass Communication (with distinction) from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, India, and my MSc in Psychology (with distinction) from the University of Essex, UK. Following that, I worked in consumer psychology and research as a Market Research Executive and Brand Consultant. In 2010, I was awarded a Psychology studentship by the University of Southampton and completed my PhD under the supervision of Dr Aiden Gregg.

During my PhD, I developed and tested a novel evolutionary social psychology-based theory of self-regard. It proposed that self-regard regulates social status, tracking a person’s level of status in their social groups and motivating appropriate status-seeking behaviour.

In my current role as research fellow, I investigate the phenomena of Intellectual Arrogance and Humility from an evolutionary interpersonal perspective.