Dr James Butterworth


Lecturer
Phd MSc BSc
Monday 2-4 09AC04

Academic and research departments

Cognitive Psychology research group, School of Psychology.

About

I am a Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Surrey. I also teach on several other modules, and have additional roles as an academic and personal tutor, and dissertation and placement supervisor. I obtained my PhD at the University of Southampton in 2024, and I have a Masters Degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Sussex, and a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of Surrey.

My key research examines the relationship between Sleep and The Self (including self-compassion, self-control, self-esteem, and self-continuity). I am interested in how these variables interact on a state basis, and the influence of external factors. 

I also conduct EEG research. Recent research includes investigating the neural mechanisms of reward-related, emotion regulation, and wellbeing; how do different types of narcissists respond to making mistakes; and neural markers of descriptors for the presented vs authentic self.

Teaching

Publications

James W. Butterworth, Anna J. Finley, Cassandra L. Baldwin, Nicholas J. Kelley (2022)Self-control mediates age-related differences in psychological distress, In: Personality and individual differences184111137 Elsevier

The ability to over-ride or alter motivated responses, known as self-control, is crucial for goal-directed behaviour and is a determinant of many consequential outcomes including physical health, psychological well-being, and mental health. Three cross-sectional correlational studies examined the extent to which individual differences in self-control (i.e., trait self-control) account for age-related differences in psychological distress. In Study 1 par-ticipants (N = 622), predominantly from the United States, completed measures of self-control and psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) via Amazon's Mechanical Turk. In Study 2, United Kingdom par-ticipants (N = 300) completed the same measures as Study 1 via Prolific Academic. In Study 3 a transnational sample of participants (N = 1484) from the Human Penguin Project completed the same measure of self-control as Studies 1-2 along with a new measure of psychological distress (i.e., perceived stress). Across all 3 studies, utilizing varied measures of distress, older (relative to younger) participants reported reduced depression, anxiety, and stress (Studies 1-2) as well as reduced perceived stress (Study 3). These age-related differences in psychological distress were mediated by self-control. Taken together with past research, the current studies suggest that trait self-control may be a key mechanism driving healthy aging.

Chengli Huang, James W. W. Butterworth, Anna J. J. Finley, Douglas J. J. Angus, Constantine Sedikides, Nicholas J. J. Kelley (2023)There is a party in my head and no one is invited: Resting-state electrocortical activity and solitude, In: Journal of personality Wiley

Objective: What are the motivational underpinnings of solitude? We know from self-report studies that increases in solitude are associated with drops in approach motivation and rises in avoidance motivation, but only when solitude is experienced as non-self-determined (i.e., non-autonomous). However, the extent to which individual differences in solitude relate to neurophysiological markers of approach-avoidance motivation derived from resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) is unknown. These markers are Frontal Alpha Asymmetry, beta suppression, and midline Posterior versus Frontal EEG Theta Activity.Method: We assessed the relation among individual differences in the reasons for solitude (i.e., preference for solitude, motivation for solitude), approach-avoidance motivation, and resting-state EEG markers of approach-avoidance motivation (N = 115).Results: General preference for solitude was negatively related to approach motivation, observed in both self-reported measures and EEG markers of approach motivation. Self-determined solitude was positively related to both self-reported approach motivation and avoidance motivation in the social domain (i.e., friendship). Non-self-determined solitude was negatively associated with self-reported avoidance motivation.Conclusion: This research was a preliminary attempt to address the neurophysiological underpinnings of solitude in the context of motivation.

Additional publications