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Geoffrey Beattie
Geoffrey Beattie FBPsS FRSM FRSA is a British psychologist, author and broadcaster. He is Professor of Psychology at Edge Hill University and in 2023 was appointed Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing (OCLW) and Wolfson College, University of Oxford. He has also been visiting professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California Santa Barbara. He graduated with a First Class Honours degree from the University of Birmingham and a PhD from Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is also a writer, and two of his books were optioned by a Hollywood studio. The movie ‘Giant’ starring Pierce Brosnan will be in cinemas in January 2026. Beattie is Executive Producer, alongside the legendary Sylvester Stallone.
He has published twenty-nine books on a wide range of topics including the psychology of language and communication, nonverbal communication/body language, the psychology of sustainability and climate change, implicit ethnic bias, prejudice and conflict, applying psychological techniques to everyday life, the psychology of sport, boxing and running, ethnographic studies of working-class life in the UK and a memoir 'Protestant Boy' published by Granta in 2004, amongst others.
'We are the People' was shortlisted for the Ewart-Biggs Literary Prize. 'On the Ropes' was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. 'Trophy Hunting' was shortlisted for the 2019 Taylor & Francis Outstanding Book and Digital Product Award in the Outstanding Professional Category. 'The Psychology of Language and Communication' was republished in the Routledge Classic Editions series, thirty years after it first appeared. 'Survivors of Steel City' formed the basis for the documentary film 'Tales from a Hard City' (director: Kim Flitcroft) which won the Grand Prix at the Marseilles Film Festival and the Best Regional Film in the Indies Award. Beattie was credited as story consultant on the film.
Beattie has also published two novels—'The Corner Boys' (Victor Gollancz) and 'The Body's Little Secrets' (Gibson Square). 'The Corner Boys', the story of a teenager growing up in a loyalist working-class neighbourhood of Belfast during the Troubles, was also shortlisted for the Ewart-Biggs Literary Prize [1]. 'The Body's Little Secrets' is the story of a social psychologist, Matt, whose research centres on the analysis of body language. The novel situates the action in Sheffield in Thatcher's Britain of the early nineteen-eighties, just after the miners' strike with the mines and the steelworks closing. Self-construction is the nature of the day, trying still to be somebody in desperate times. Matt himself is trying to make a name for himself as an academic in this changing societal landscape but oversteps the mark in his claims about what his body language analyses can reveal from CCTV footage of a murder, to his ultimate cost. In a review in the international journal Semiotica, Professor Marcel Danesi, professor of semiotics at the University of Toronto, described the book as a 'truly outstanding work' and wrote that 'With his latest novel, Dr Geoffrey Beattie can now be projected onto the same international platform as the late Umberto Eco, who became famous for integrating semiotic theory with fiction, starting with his bestseller, The Name of the Rose...There is little doubt, in my estimation at least, that Geoffrey Beattie is Eco's successor, displaying an uncanny and ingenious ability to blend his insightful work on nonverbal semiotics with an exceptional sense for narrative in this outstanding roman-à-clef.'
His book 'Selfless: A Psychologist's Journey through Identity and Social Class', published by Routledge, which is a memoir reflecting on identity, social class and education, attracted excellent international reviews—'a powerful mix of psychological research, intellectual rigour and personal insight' (Binna Kandola), 'a unique book....We come away understanding what psychology should be....required reading by anyone interested in understanding what consciousness is' (Marcel Danesi, University of Toronto), 'has the potential to contribute to relevant fields of inquiry in the same way Oliver Sacks' books did to neurology and the history of science' (Hongbing Yu, Ryerson University). A review in the Psychologist read 'We need more books like this—where the author is authentically written into the work, and psychology is opened up, inviting people to explore it in relation to their own lives.'
His recent book 'Doubt: A Psychological Exploration' was described by Professor Brian Butterworth from UCL as 'Beattie brilliantly illustrates the science of doubt with fascinating case studies from doubters like Kafka, to non-doubters like Picasso.' Professor Richard Bentall from the University of Sheffield wrote 'Geoff Beattie has written a brilliantly entertaining book about the little considered phenomenon of doubt, focusing mainly but not exclusively on self-doubt.' Professor Marcel Danesi from the University of Toronto wrote 'This is one of the most brilliant books I have ever come across.'
His books have been translated into various languages including Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, Finnish and German. He has also published over one hundred academic articles in journals including Nature, Nature Climate Change and Semiotica.
His books 'On the Ropes: Boxing as a Way of Life' (Victor Gollancz) and ‘The Shadows of Boxing’ (Orion) were optioned by a major Hollywood studio to be made into a film. The books focused on Brendan Ingle's famous gym in Wincobank in Sheffield and explores boxing in precarious economic times after the pit closures and the decline of the steel industry. The Daily Telegraph's review of the book read "Beattie can write about the low life of boxing like no-one else…[He] has got the smell of the gym in his lungs. He breathes resin, sweat and soiled towels. He even goes three rounds himself with Mick Mills. He writes for adults, and quite beautifully. Not since I first went ringside with the late Ring Lardner have I so enjoyed a book on boxing". The Hollywood studio, AGC, picked up the film rights to the book; Rowan Athale wrote the screenplay and directed the film.
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Geoffrey Beattie
Geoffrey Beattie FBPsS FRSM FRSA is a British psychologist, author and broadcaster. He is Professor of Psychology at Edge Hill University and in 2023 was appointed Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing (OCLW) and Wolfson College, University of Oxford. He has also been visiting professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California Santa Barbara. He graduated with a First Class Honours degree from the University of Birmingham and a PhD from Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is also a writer, and two of his books were optioned by a Hollywood studio. The movie ‘Giant’ starring Pierce Brosnan will be in cinemas in January 2026. Beattie is Executive Producer, alongside the legendary Sylvester Stallone.
He has published twenty-nine books on a wide range of topics including the psychology of language and communication, nonverbal communication/body language, the psychology of sustainability and climate change, implicit ethnic bias, prejudice and conflict, applying psychological techniques to everyday life, the psychology of sport, boxing and running, ethnographic studies of working-class life in the UK and a memoir 'Protestant Boy' published by Granta in 2004, amongst others.
'We are the People' was shortlisted for the Ewart-Biggs Literary Prize. 'On the Ropes' was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. 'Trophy Hunting' was shortlisted for the 2019 Taylor & Francis Outstanding Book and Digital Product Award in the Outstanding Professional Category. 'The Psychology of Language and Communication' was republished in the Routledge Classic Editions series, thirty years after it first appeared. 'Survivors of Steel City' formed the basis for the documentary film 'Tales from a Hard City' (director: Kim Flitcroft) which won the Grand Prix at the Marseilles Film Festival and the Best Regional Film in the Indies Award. Beattie was credited as story consultant on the film.
Beattie has also published two novels—'The Corner Boys' (Victor Gollancz) and 'The Body's Little Secrets' (Gibson Square). 'The Corner Boys', the story of a teenager growing up in a loyalist working-class neighbourhood of Belfast during the Troubles, was also shortlisted for the Ewart-Biggs Literary Prize [1]. 'The Body's Little Secrets' is the story of a social psychologist, Matt, whose research centres on the analysis of body language. The novel situates the action in Sheffield in Thatcher's Britain of the early nineteen-eighties, just after the miners' strike with the mines and the steelworks closing. Self-construction is the nature of the day, trying still to be somebody in desperate times. Matt himself is trying to make a name for himself as an academic in this changing societal landscape but oversteps the mark in his claims about what his body language analyses can reveal from CCTV footage of a murder, to his ultimate cost. In a review in the international journal Semiotica, Professor Marcel Danesi, professor of semiotics at the University of Toronto, described the book as a 'truly outstanding work' and wrote that 'With his latest novel, Dr Geoffrey Beattie can now be projected onto the same international platform as the late Umberto Eco, who became famous for integrating semiotic theory with fiction, starting with his bestseller, The Name of the Rose...There is little doubt, in my estimation at least, that Geoffrey Beattie is Eco's successor, displaying an uncanny and ingenious ability to blend his insightful work on nonverbal semiotics with an exceptional sense for narrative in this outstanding roman-à-clef.'
His book 'Selfless: A Psychologist's Journey through Identity and Social Class', published by Routledge, which is a memoir reflecting on identity, social class and education, attracted excellent international reviews—'a powerful mix of psychological research, intellectual rigour and personal insight' (Binna Kandola), 'a unique book....We come away understanding what psychology should be....required reading by anyone interested in understanding what consciousness is' (Marcel Danesi, University of Toronto), 'has the potential to contribute to relevant fields of inquiry in the same way Oliver Sacks' books did to neurology and the history of science' (Hongbing Yu, Ryerson University). A review in the Psychologist read 'We need more books like this—where the author is authentically written into the work, and psychology is opened up, inviting people to explore it in relation to their own lives.'
His recent book 'Doubt: A Psychological Exploration' was described by Professor Brian Butterworth from UCL as 'Beattie brilliantly illustrates the science of doubt with fascinating case studies from doubters like Kafka, to non-doubters like Picasso.' Professor Richard Bentall from the University of Sheffield wrote 'Geoff Beattie has written a brilliantly entertaining book about the little considered phenomenon of doubt, focusing mainly but not exclusively on self-doubt.' Professor Marcel Danesi from the University of Toronto wrote 'This is one of the most brilliant books I have ever come across.'
His books have been translated into various languages including Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, Finnish and German. He has also published over one hundred academic articles in journals including Nature, Nature Climate Change and Semiotica.
His books 'On the Ropes: Boxing as a Way of Life' (Victor Gollancz) and ‘The Shadows of Boxing’ (Orion) were optioned by a major Hollywood studio to be made into a film. The books focused on Brendan Ingle's famous gym in Wincobank in Sheffield and explores boxing in precarious economic times after the pit closures and the decline of the steel industry. The Daily Telegraph's review of the book read "Beattie can write about the low life of boxing like no-one else…[He] has got the smell of the gym in his lungs. He breathes resin, sweat and soiled towels. He even goes three rounds himself with Mick Mills. He writes for adults, and quite beautifully. Not since I first went ringside with the late Ring Lardner have I so enjoyed a book on boxing". The Hollywood studio, AGC, picked up the film rights to the book; Rowan Athale wrote the screenplay and directed the film.