Close

Dr Robert Aunger

Associate Professor

United Kingdom

Robert Aunger is Associate Professor in Evolutionary Public Health. He has a Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Southern California, a PhD in biological anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and did post-doctoral work in psychology at the University of Chicago and King’s College, Cambridge. He has published books on cultural evolution (with the Free Press and Oxford University Press), the evolution of human behaviour (with Oxford University Press), and ethnographic methods (with Altamira Press), as well as papers on hunter-gather nutrition and belief systems, genetic diversity, the psychology of motivation, the evolution of technology, and global history. He is the lead developer of a novel approach to behaviour change called ‘Behaviour Centred Design’ which has its origins in evolutionary biology, ecological psychology and commercial marketing. For over a decade, he has helped implement research- and large-scale public health projects in water, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition and HIV using this approach in multiple countries on the African and Asian continents, including designing creative materials for mass media and community activation. He has held grants from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council, the National Science Foundation, the Hygiene Council and the Department for International Development and has also consulted on behaviour change for the World Bank, UNICEF, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Kimberly Clark, and GoJo Industries.

Affiliations

Department of Disease Control
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases

Teaching

Co Module Organiser of core module for LSHTM's distance learning, on the Control of Infectious Disease.

Annual lecture on Imperial College and Royal College of Art's Master’s Program in HealthCare and Design on Behaviour Centred Design’

Research

design

behaviour change

evolutionary psychology

in situ data collection methods

hygiene promotion

cultural evolution

Selected Publications

Behaviour settings theory applied to domestic water use in Nigeria: A new conceptual tool for the study of routine behaviour.
CURTIS, V; DREIBELBIS, R; Buxton, H; Izang, N; Adekunle, D; AUNGER, R;
2019
Social Science and Medicine
Understanding demand for higher quality sanitation in peri-urban Lusaka, Zambia through stated and revealed preference analysis.
Tidwell, JB; TERRIS-PRESTHOLT, F; QUAIFE, M; AUNGER, R;
2019
Social Science & Medicine
The Determinants of Reported Personal and Household Hygiene Behaviour: A Multi-Country Study.
AUNGER, R; GREENLAND, K; Ploubidis, G; SCHMIDT, W; Oxford, J; CURTIS, V;
2016
PloS one
Behaviour Centred Design: towards an applied science of behaviour change.
AUNGER, R; CURTIS, V;
2016
Health psychology review
Effect of a behaviour-change intervention on handwashing with soap in India (SuperAmma): a cluster-randomised trial.
BIRAN, A; SCHMIDT, W-P; Varadharajan, KS; Rajaraman, D; Kumar, R; GREENLAND, K; Gopalan, B; AUNGER, R; CURTIS, V;
2014
The Lancet Global health
Forming a flossing habit: an exploratory study of the psychological determinants of habit formation.
JUDAH, G; Gardner, B; AUNGER, R;
2012
British journal of health psychology
Experimental pretesting of hand-washing interventions in a natural setting.
JUDAH, G; AUNGER, R; SCHMIDT, W-P; Michie, S; Granger, S; CURTIS, V;
2009
American journal of public health
Comparison of COVID-19 Behaviour Change Campaign Ads in Tanzania: Results From a Randomised Controlled Survey-Based Experiment
AUNGER, R; Shah, V; SHARMA WADDINGTON, H; Mwambuli, K;
2024
Social Marketing Quarterly
What works in sanitation promotion?
AUNGER, R;
2023
Health promotion international
Rice farmers' knowledge, attitudes and practices towards mosquitoes in irrigation schemes in Côte d'Ivoire: a qualitative study.
CHAN, K; Konan, KA-C; Doudou, DT; Kouadio, GB; LINES, J; AUNGER, R; N'Guessan, R; TUSTING, LS;
2023
Malaria journal
See more information