Dr Matthew Slater

About Me:

Dr Matthew Slater is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology and an internationally recognized researcher.  Matt’s main expertise centre on the psychology leadership and team functioning, and the application of psychological skills for performance and health.  Matt’s work focusses primarily on the social identity approach to leadership and team functioning, and these endeavours inform his undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, PhD supervision, enterprise activities and consultancy links.  For example, Matt takes theory to practice by developing and evaluating evidence-based development programmes to optimise leadership in a range of settings. Matt has worked with a range of elite sport teams and organisations including the England Cerebral Palsy Football Team in their preparation for the World Cup (2015) and the Rio Paralympic Games (2016), and has delivered on his research and practice at the NEOMA Business School in Paris.  Matt is a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology (DSEP) committee member.  Matt has published 20+ peer-reviewed papers, 5 book chapters, regularly speaks at international and national conferences, and delivers CPD workshops in the application of the social identity approach. His research has also received international public reach through the media (e.g., The Conversation, interviews on TalkSport, Cape Town radio, and coverage in The Times, The Independent newspapers, and on the BBC).

Research Interests:

  • The social identity approach to leadership and team functioning. 
  • The development and application of leadership (e.g., the 3Rs; Reflect, Represent, Realise) and group-level (e.g., Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing) development programmes.
  • The measurement and role of social identity content in high performing teams.
  • The social contributors involved in psychophysiological responses to stress.

Personal Contact

Email: m.slater@staffs.ac.uk

Twitter: @DrMattSlater

ResearchGate/scholar/ORCiD URL

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matthew_Slater3

ORCiD: 0000-0002-2470-2790

Papers:

Slater, M. J., & Barker, J. B. (in press). Doing social identity leadership: The efficacy of an identity leadership programme on perceived leadership and mobilization of effort. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. doi:10.1080/10413200.2017.1410255

Slater, M. J., Haslam, S. A., & Steffens, N. (2018). Singing it for us: Team passion during national anthems is associated with subsequent success. European Journal of Sport Science, 18, 541-549.

Slater, M. J., Turner, M. J., Evans, A. L., & Jones, M. V. (2018). Capturing Hearts and Minds: The influence of leader relational identification on followers’ mobilization and cardiovascular reactivity. The Leadership Quarterly, 29, 379-388. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.08.003

Turner, M. J., Slater, M. J., Dixon, J., & Miller, A. (2018). Test-retest reliability of the irrational performance beliefs inventory (iPBI). European Journal of Sport Science, 18, 123-129. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2017.1411527.

Braithwaite, E. C., Slater, M. J., & Turner, M. J. (2018). A systematic review of psychological distress in elite young athletes. PROSPERO 2018 CRD42018093962 Available from: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?ID=CRD42018093962 

Turner, M. J., Allen, M., Slater, M. J., Barker, J. B., Woodcock, C., Harwood, C. G., & McFadyen, K. (2018). The development and initial validation of the irrational performance beliefs inventory (iPBI). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 34, 174-180.

Slater, M. J., Evans, A. L., & Turner, M. J. (2016). Implementing a social identity approach for effective change management. Journal of Change Management, 16, 18-37. doi:10.1080/14697017.2015.1103774.

Turner, M. J., Slater, M. J., & Barker, J. B. (2015). Leading and managing a “challenge” culture. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 10, 275-279.

Barker, J. B., & Slater, M. J. (2015). It’s not just cricket. The Psychologist. July 2015.

Slater, M. J., Barker, J. B., Coffee, P., & Jones, M. V. (2015). Leading for Gold: Social identity leadership processes at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health, 7, 192-209. doi:10.1080/2159676X.2014.936030.

Turner, M. J., Slater, M. J., & Barker, J. B. (2014). The longitudinal effects of Rational-Emotive Behaviour Therapy on the irrational beliefs of professional soccer academy athletes. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 45, 429-451.

Fransen, K., Coffee, P., Vanbeselaere, N., Slater, M. J., De Cuyper, B., & Boen, F. (2014). The role of athlete leaders in affecting the team confidence of their teammates and coaches: The mediating role of team identification and collective efficacy. The Sport Psychologist, 28, 347-360. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2013-0141.

Slater, M. J., Coffee, P., Barker, J. B., & Evans, A. L. (2014). Promoting shared meanings in group memberships: A social identity approach to leadership in sport. Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 15(5), 672-685.

Barker, J. B., Evans, A. L., Coffee, P., Slater, M. J., & McCarthy, P. J. (2014). Consulting on tour: A multiple-phase personal-disclosure mutual-sharing intervention and group functioning in elite youth cricket. The Sport Psychologist, 28(2), 186-197.

Slater, M. J., & Jones, M. V. (2014). Will it be England United in Rio 2014? The Psychologist, 27, 473.

Turner, M. J., Slater, M. J., & Barker, J. B. (2014). Not the end of the world: The effects of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy on the irrational beliefs of elite academy athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 26, 144-156. doi: 10.1080/10413200.2013.812159.

Randall, J., Slater, M. J., Stewart, A., Pugh, G., Lewis, K., & Levy, C. (2014). The effectiveness of non-surgical weight management interventions in the UK: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Open Journal of Medical Science, 3, 235-249. doi: 10.4236/ojmp.2014.33025.

Turner, M. J., Slater, M. J., & Barker, J. B. (2014). Not the end of the world: The effects of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy on the irrational beliefs of elite academy athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 26, 144-156. doi: 10.1080/10413200.2013.812159.

Slater, M. J., Evans, A. L., & Barker, J. B. (2013). Using social identities to motivate athletes towards peak performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games: Reflecting for Rio 2016. Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 14, 672-679.doi: 10.1080/14623943.2013.835725

Evans, A., Slater, M. J., Turner, M. J., & Barker, J. B. (2013). Using personal-disclosure mutual-sharing (PDMS) to enhance group functioning in a professional soccer academy. The Sport Psychologist, 27, 233-243.

Turner, M. J., Jones, M. V., Sheffield, D., Slater, M. J., & Barker, J. B. (2013). “Who thrives under pressure?” Predicting the performance of elite academy cricketers using the cardiovascular indicators of challenge and threat states. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 35, 387-397.

Way, A., Jones, M. V., & Slater, M. J. (2012). Three layer model of elite male school-age athlete training adherence. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 4, 154―171.

Slater, M. J., Spray, C. M., & Smith, B. M. (2012). “You’re only as good as your weakest link”: Implicit theories of golf ability. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13, 280―290.

Book chapters

Ahmed, O. H., Slater, M. J., Barker, J. B., & Blake, T. (2018). Concussion in athletes with a disability in G. Bloom and J. Caron (Eds.). Psychological aspects of sports-related concussion. UK:Routledge.

Slater, M. J., Barker, J. B., & Mellalieu, S. D. (2016). “We are in this together”: A social identity perspective on change and conflict management in C. R. D. Wagstaff (Ed.), The organizational psychology of sport: Key issues and practical applications. Routledge.

Evans, A. L., Slater, M. J., Coffee, P., & Barker, J. B. (2016). “Pulling the group together”: The role of the social identity approach in R. Thelwell, C. G. Harwood, and I. Greenlees, (Eds.), The psychology of sports coaching: Research and practice. UK: Routledge.

Slater, M. J. (2015). Identification with sports teams in M. Dodds, and J. T. Reese, (Eds.), Sports leadership: A reference guide. USA: Mission Bell Media

Slater M. J. (2013). Controlling emotions. In S. Cotterill and J. Barker (Eds.). The psychology of cricket: Developing mental toughness. Birmingham, UK: Bennion Kearney Limited.