Nicky Hayes

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Nicky Hayes is a psychologist and the author of more than 25 books about psychology, management, and neuroscience. She has helped teach psychology, improve research methods, and apply psychology in real life. Her books include textbooks, study guides, and easy introductions to psychology. She has written articles for psychology magazines and newsletters. She is a member of the Society of Authors, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, an Honorary Life Member of the Association for the Teaching of Psychology, and a member of the Council of the International Test Commission. Nicky Hayes is a visiting professor at the University of Suffolk and she works as a consultant on psychological matters for government and private organizations. She was president of the British Psychological Society from 2022 to 2024.

Nicola Jane Hayes was born in 1953 near Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. She moved to the Wirral in 1964 and went to Wallasey High School until 1971. She studied psychology at the University of Leeds from 1972 to 1975. From 1976 to 1979 she worked as a Residential Social Worker with Leeds City Council. She then earned a PGCE in Further and Higher Education at Holly Bank, Huddersfield, from 1979 to 1980, and an M.Ed. at the University of Leeds from 1981 to 1983.

Hayes helped develop pre-degree psychology in the UK. She taught psychology part-time at A-Level and AO-level in various colleges in West Yorkshire. In 1982 she became an AO level examiner with the Joint Matriculation Board. Seeing the need for more support for teachers, she helped create the Association for the Teaching of Psychology. She served as Hon Secretary from 1982 to 1984 and as chair from 1984 to 1985. This work led to publications, local groups, a resource bank, and an annual conference that still provides teacher training today.

In 1985 she joined the British Psychological Society’s Membership and Qualifications Board to raise the profile of pre-degree teaching. She became the first Hon. Secretary of a new Special Group for the Teaching of Psychology. From 1989 to 1995 she was the Registrar for the BPS Diploma in the Teaching of Psychology. From 1993 to 1998 she chaired the BPS Training Committee for the Applied Psychology of Teaching. She helped found the BPS Division established in 1997, now called the Division of Academic Research and Teaching in Psychology. In 1997 she received the BPS Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Teaching of Psychology.

From 1983 to 2002 Hayes worked with public exam boards in roles such as Chief Examiner and Chair of Examiners. She helped develop syllabuses and checked exam practices. In 2016–17 she helped revise the GCSE psychology syllabus for AQA. She also wrote many textbooks and study guides for teachers and students. Her introductory books have been translated into several languages, and she has spoken at psychology teachers’ conferences in Australia, Denmark, and Russia.

Hayes has used social research methods to teach undergraduates, postgraduates, Environmental Health trainees, MBA students, and Educational Psychology Doctorate students. She is editor of two publications on psychometrics and works with the BPS Psychological Testing Centre and the International Test Commission. She helped start the British Psychological Society’s Qualitative Methods group in the 1990s to promote qualitative research. She edited a textbook on qualitative methods and later a comprehensive book on research and analysis, which helped more psychologists accept qualitative research in the UK.

Her work crosses into organizational psychology. She developed a model of how social identification and social representation shape organizational cultures and how this affects employee engagement. She has helped small and medium-sized businesses grow by using these ideas to improve staff experience and management. She has studied the psychology of the psychological contract and organizational commitment and written two books about the psychology of effective teamwork.

In the 1990s she joined AI workshops with the European Society for the Study of Cognitive Systems and contributed to other professional groups’ events. From 1994 to 2002 she researched the psychology of science communication, working with interactive science centers such as the National Museum for Science and Technology (London), Techniquest (Cardiff), and the Centre for Life (Newcastle). She explored how people engage with science centers and how this affects thinking, motivation, feelings, and actions. She has given talks on this model at many national and international conferences, and the model has been used in science centers and other interactive settings.