Dr Peita Richards

Dr Peita L. Richards is an interdisciplinary academic specialising in social psychology and criminology, with a professional background in international law and political communications. Her research develops advanced analytical methods to create objective measures of predictive psychological phenomena for use in intelligence contexts. Awarded an Office of National Intelligence Postdoctoral Grant (2023), she extended her doctoral work to identify objective behavioural indicators of multiple social identity features across multiplatform environments. Her current projects examine the dynamics between trust, misinformation and belief systems, particularly around anti-government and anti-authority sentiment and behaviors; algorithm-driven exposure to ideologically aligned content across online platforms, focusing on precursor material linked to extremist beliefs; and investigating the timing interplay between mental health and extremist ideology.