Rebecca’s research focuses on the Psychology of Brexit, where she uses qualitative and quantitative methods to explore people’s attitudes and feelings, with a view to deepening people’s understanding and cultivating greater empathy and better relations. She also researches the effect of various meditation practices (including mindfulness, loving-kindness and compassion) on cognition and wellbeing. Current projects include:
- Attitudes towards Brexit
- The effects of mobile phone use and mindfulness on learning
- Loving-Kindness and Social Connectedness
- Meditation and Creativity
Rebecca supervises two PhD students:
- Amy-Louise Simkiss, who is researching Attention and Distraction
- Jay Rowe, who is researching Attitudes Towards Brexit.
Journal Articles
Griffiths, E. & Semmens-Wheeler, R. (in prep) How Texting Whilst Engaged in Reading and Lectures Affects Learning.
Hill. K. & Semmens-Wheeler, R. (in review) We’re not happy and no-one is listening: Understanding Voter and Non-Voter Decisions Behind ‘Brexit’.
Semmens-Wheeler, R. & Hill, K. (in prep). "It’s all smoke and mirrors, but I voted anyway”: Understanding Voter Decisions Behind ‘Brexit’.
De Ruyter, A. Semmens-Wheeler, R. Rowe, J. Gomez, A. & Hill, K. (forthcoming: September 2019). Tales from an Episodic Journey into “Brexitland”: Understanding the Underlying Factors as to Why People Voted “Leave”. The Economic and Labour Relations Review.
Semmens-Wheeler, R. & Hill, K. (in prep). It’s all Smoke and Mirrors, But I Voted Anyway:
Semmens-Wheeler, R., Dienes, Z & Duka, T. (2013). Alcohol Increases Hypnotic Susceptibility. Consciousness and Cognition 22, 1082–1091.
Dienes, Z., & Semmens-Wheeler, R. (2012). Response to Terhune: Testing Cold Control Theory. Journal of Mind-Body Regulation, 2(1), 169-171.
Semmens-Wheeler, R., & Dienes, Z. (2012). The Contrasting Role of Higher Order Awareness in Hypnosis and Meditation. Journal of Mind-Body Regulation, 2(1), 43-57.
Moore, D. & Semmens-Wheeler, R. (2008). Psychology Teaching: A Student's Perspective. Psychology Teaching Review 14(2).
Book chapters
Hearne, D., Semmens-Wheeler, R. & Hill, K. (2019) Explaining the Brexit Vote: A socio-economic and psychological exploration of the referendum vote in De Ruyter, A. & Nielsen, B. (2018). Brexit: one year on from Article 50 - Reflections from Academia, Business and Politics. Emerald.
Dienes, Z., Lush, P., Semmens-Wheeler, R., Parkinson, J., Scott, R. and Naish, P. Hypnosis as self-deception; Meditation as self-insight, inHypnosis and Meditation: Toward an Integrative Science of Conscious Planes. M. Lifshitz & A. Raz, Eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
