Dr Aiyana Willard
Reader in Psychology

Summary

Dr Aiyana Willard is a Reader in the Centre for Culture and Evolution and the Department Psychology. Her research focuses on the evolutionary origins of religion and supernatural beliefs, examining how cognitive and cultural mechanisms shape belief systems from localized supernatural and spiritual practices to complex institutional religions. Dr Willard has made significant contributions to understanding how supernatural beliefs function within societies, particularly their role in enforcing cooperative norms. Her work spans topics including pagan spirituality, witchcraft beliefs, karma, religious prosociality, and the psychology of atheism. Dr Willard has been involved in several large international collaborative project during her career, including the Evolution of Religion and Morality project, and Explaining Atheism. 

Dr Willard is currently working on the cultural evolution of contemoporary spiritual beliefs in the west, the the formation of new belief systems more generally. She is the REF 2029 lead for Psychology. 

Academic career:

• Reader in Psychology, Brunel University of London, 2024-present
• Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Brunel University London, 2021-2024
• Lecturer in Psychology, Brunel University London, 2018-2021
• Postdoctoral researcher, Oxford, 2017-2018
• Postdoctoral researcher, University of Texas at Austin, 2015-2017
• PhD in Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2015