Professor Lydia Woodyatt

Lydia Woodyatt is Professor in Psychology at Flinders University. She uses psychological science to understand and increase social wellbeing. Her research covers a wide range of practical contexts where psychological needs (and social context) shape social wellbeing - including relationships, organisational leadership, workplace conflict, debt management and customer service, loneliness in communities, military and veteran experiences, child protection, and universities - amongst many others. 

Her research contribution extend social psychological theory and empirical approaches to understanding human responses to failure and transgressions, contributing to the psychology of justice and moral repair, well-being, psychological needs, emotions, motivation and relationships. She utilizes prospective-longitudinal, intervention, qualitative, dyadic and experimental designs to advance knowledge on these complex psycho-social processes. Woodyatt is the recipient of funding from both the ARC and Industry and was the senior editor of The Handbook of the Psychology of Self-forgiveness (Springer, 2017).

Woodyatt is a multi-award winning teacher and public speaker. She is co-creator of Flinders University's Certificate and Graduate Certificates in Mental Health and Wellbeing (Workplace and Community), and the highly successful online topic The Psychology of Surviving and Thriving, which develops wellbeing and self-management. She is the Teaching Program Director in Psychology at Flinders University and has previously held University leadership roles in the area of Wellbeing and Retention.

She is a member of the Flinders University Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing, the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists, and the International Society of Justice Researchers.