Professor Craig Roberts

Professor of Social Psychology

Psychology University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Professor Craig Roberts

About me

I originally trained as a zoologist, with a PhD in mammalian behavioural ecology from University College London. I did post-docs at the Institute of Zoology and the University of Newcastle. This work included phylogenetic analyses of horn evolution (paper in Behaviour) and carnivore diet (paper in Nature), but principally aimed to understand how odour communicates adaptive information between competitors and mates (papers in e.g. Behavioral Ecology, Nature Genetics), especially in laboratory and harvest mice. For the past 20 years or so, I have worked exclusively on human mate choice and olfaction, based at the universities of Newcastle, Liverpool, and Stirling.

I have been in the Division of Psychology at Stirling since 2010, and was promoted to Professor in 2015. I was Deputy Chair of the General University Ethics Panel (2022-23), served on the University Research Committee (2016-2019), and founded the researcher development programme, Stirling Crucible, in 2014.

I currently serve on the European Science Foundation's College of Expert Reviewers (since 2018), the UKRI Interdisciplinary Assessment College (since 2023), and the FWO Review College (since 2025).

I was elected Vice-President (2014-17) and President (2018-2021) of the International Society for Human Ethology. I have served as a Trustee since 2022.

I am currently working on the following projects:

1) Between 2024 and 2032, I am leading the project Olfactory communication in the first weeks of life: from chemical mechanisms to improving breastfeeding outcomes, funded by a £3.5M Wellcome Trust Discovery Award.

2) Between 2025 and 2028, I hold a Human Frontiers Science Program grant (US$1.2M) with Jonathan Williams (Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany) and Lindsay Kalan (McMaster University, Canada) to investigate the chemical and microbial mechanisms involved in human odour signals of fear.

3) Since 2021, I have also been an Assistant Professor at the University of Wroclaw, where I lead the interdisciplinary Being Human Incubator of Scientific Excellence (PLN 4.5M, ~£906K, 2021-2026).

4) Between 2025 and 2030, I hold a MAESTRO project grant (PLN 4.53M, ~£913K), working with Piotr Sorokowski, Grażyna Jasieńska, and Paweł Boski on HLA-associated mate choice in five populations across the world.

My previous research has been funded by UK Research Councils (ESRC, BBSRC), research charities (the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Wellcome Trust, the Leverhulme Trust) and industrial partners (Unilever R&D, Boots UK Ltd). I held a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship between 2013 and 2014.

Education (Archived)

BSc (First Class) Agricultural Zoology
University of Leeds

PhD - Mechanics and Function of Territorial Behaviour in Klipspringer
University College London

Certificate in Professional Studies
University of Liverpool


Event / Presentation

Lead Organiser, Royal Society Theo Murphy International Scientific Meeting: Human Olfactory Communication

https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0258
Competitively selected theme on Human Chemical Communication, and Guest Editor for special issue in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

Lead Organiser, Royal Society Theo Murphy International Scientific Meeting: Love, Actually and in Theory

Competitively selected theme on Love, Actually and in Theory, and Guest Editor for a special issue in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B


Other Academic Activities

Vice-President, International Society for Human Ethology

President, International Society for Human Ethology

http://ishe.org/

Trustee, International Society for Human Ethology

https://ishe.org/


Professional membership

College of Expert Reviewers, European Science Foundation

Member, UKRI Interdisciplinary Assessment College


University Contribution

Academic Lead, Stirling Crucible

Deputy Chair, General University Ethics Panel


Research projects (5)

On the scent of fear: exploring the microbial and chemical mechanisms of olfactory communication
PI: Professor Craig Roberts
Funded by: Human Frontier Science Program

How can we explain impairments in executive functioning? The role of chronic pain and social context during adolescence.
PI: Dr Line Caes
Funded by: The Royal Society of Edinburgh

Is there ill in the pill? Exploring social consequences of partner choice while using hormonal contraception
PI: Professor Craig Roberts
Funded by: The British Academy

Royal Society International Joint Project
PI: Professor Craig Roberts
Funded by: Royal Society

Consequences of Using Hormonal contraception during Partner Choice
PI: Professor Craig Roberts
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council

Outputs (195)

Showing 100 of 195 — See all 195 outputs

Article

Lazic M, Adams S, Aritio-Solana R, Aryanto CB, Avsec A, Bakhshi A, Bender M, Berjot S, Betancourth Zambrano S, Brajsa-Zganec A, Broche-Perez Y, Buzea C, Cabello R, Carreca V & Roberts C (2025) The (Mis)measure of Misbehavior: Cross-National Invariance of the Youth Externalizing Problems Screener across 32 Countries. Development and Psychopathology. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579425100473


Article

Jovanovic V, Adams S, Aritio-Solana R, Billy Aryanto C, Avsec A, Bakhsi A, Bender M, Berjot S, Betancourth Zambrano S, Brajsa-Zganec A, Broche-Perez Y, Buzea C, Cabello R, Cassibba R & Roberts SC (2025) Positive and Negative Emotional Experiences in Adolescents across 32 Countries: Cross-National and Gender Differences. Applied Research in Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-025-10486-2


Article

Jovanovic V, Adams S, Al Banna MH, Aritio-Solana R, Aryanto CB, Avsec A, Bakhshi A, Bender M, Berjot S, Betancourth Zambrona S, Brajsa-Zganec A, Broche-Perez Y, Buzea C, Cabello R & Roberts C (2025) Adolescent Self-Construal Across Cultures: Measurement Invariance of the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire-IV in 30 Countries. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 35 (2), Art. No.: e70017. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70017


Article

Buchanan EM, Cuccolo K, Heyman T, van Berkel N, Coles NA, Iyer A, Peters K, van ’t Veer AE, Montefinese M, Maxwell NP, Taylor JE, Valentine KD, Arriaga P, Barzykowski K & Roberts C (2025) Measuring the Semantic Priming Effect Across Many Languages. Nature Human Behaviour.


Article

Sorokowski P, Misiak M, Roberts SC, Kowal M, Butovskaya M, Omar-Fauzee MS, Huanca T & Sorokowska A (2024) Is the perception of odour pleasantness shared across cultures and ecological conditions? Evidence from Amazonia, East Africa, New Guinea, Malaysia and Poland. Biology Letters, 20 (6), Art. No.: 20240120. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0120


Book Chapter

Roberts S (2023) Menstrual cycle variation in women’s mating psychology: Empirical evidence and theoretical considerations. In: Mogilski JK & Shakelford TK (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Romantic Relationships. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 643-674. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-evolutionary-psychology-and-romantic-relationships-9780197524718?cc=gb&lang=en&#


Book Chapter

Roberts S, Singleton FP, Culpepper PD, Sorokowski P, Sorokowska A & Havlicek J (2023) Handshaking and hand-smelling: on the potential role of handshake greeting in human olfactory communication.. In: Schaal B, Rekow D, Keller M & Damon F (eds.) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 15. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp. 257-269. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35159-4_14


Article

Třebický V, Delplanque S, Ferdenzi C, Fink B, Jelinkova L, Patkova Z, Roberts SC, Roder S, Saxton TK, Schwambergova D, Sterbova Z, Třebická Fialova J & Havlíček J (2023) Cross-modal associations of human body odour attractiveness with facial and vocal attractiveness provide little support for the backup signals hypothesis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Evolution and Human Behavior, 44 (1), pp. 19-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.11.001


Review

Roberts SC, Třebická Fialová J, Sorokowska A, Langford B, Sorokowski P, Třebický V & Havlíček J (2022) Emotional expression in human odour. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 4, Art. No.: e44. https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2022.44


Article

Fiurašková K, Roberts SC, Kaňková Š, Hlaváčová J, Calda P & Havlíček J (2022) Oral contraceptive use during relationship formation and current relationship satisfaction: testing the congruency hypothesis in couples attending pregnancy and fertility clinics. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 135, Art. No.: 105451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105451


Book Chapter

Roberts SC (2021) Effect of birth control on women's preferences. In: Shackelford TK & Weekes-Shackelford V (eds.) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_13


Book Chapter

Havlicek J, Fialova J & Roberts SC (2017) Individual variation in body odor. In: Buettner A (ed.) The Springer Handbook of Odor. Cham: Springer, pp. 125-126. http://www.springer.com/gb/book/9783319269306; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26932-0_50


Conference Paper (published)

Roberts SC & Eryaman F (2017) Mutual olfactory recognition between mother and child. In: volume 32. XIII International Society for Human Ethology Congress, Stirling, UK, 01.08.2016-05.08.2016. International Society for Human Ethology, pp. 42-52. http://ishe.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Stirling2016.pdf; https://doi.org/10.22330/heb/321/042-052


Book Chapter

Roberts SC (2014) Evolutionary Psychology. In: Losos J (ed.) Oxford Bibliographies in Evolutionary Biology, Online. New York: Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199941728/obo-9780199941728-0025.xml


Commentary

Roberts SC & Havlicek J (2013) Humans Are Dunnocks, not Peacocks: On Cause and Consequence of Variation in Human Mating Strategies. Commentary on: The Ape That Thought It Was a Peacock: Does Evolutionary Psychology Exaggerate Human Sex Differences?, Steve Stewart-Williams and Andrew G. Thomas, Psychological Inquiry Vol. 24 , Iss. 3, 2013, pp. 137-168. Psychological Inquiry, 24 (3), pp. 231-236. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2013.817299


See all 195 outputs

Teaching

PhD study: I am interested in supervising students in any of the above areas - please contact me by email. I currently have projects available in exploring the influence of odours in bonding within couples and on emotional contagion by odour.

Research programmes

Research centres/groups

Research themes