Academic biography

Omar completed a BSc in Psychology from Brunel University London in 2007, and then a PhD in the experimental social psychology of religion from the University of Cambridge in 2010. He has published articles on religious cognitive dissonance, attitude/behaviour change interventions, religious cognition, self and motivation, dispositional/trait mindfulness, and the social psychology of health.

Following his PhD in 2010, he worked for four years in different clinical and health psychology settings (Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, and Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London). From 2014-2017, he was a psychology lecturer at the University of Bath where he lectured in health psychology, social psychology, and the psychology of music. From 2017-2022 he was a senior lecturer in psychology at Bath Spa University where he taught social psychology, personality and individual differences, the psychology of mindfulness, and the psychology of music. 

At present, he is a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, where he teaches social psychology, personality and individual differences, and the psychology of mindfulness.  His research is mostly in the psychology of prayer, mindfulness in religious individuals, religious cognitive dissonance, and existential psychology. He has predominantly used quantitative (especially experimental methods) but is currently conducting a number of  qualitative and mixed-methods. He currently supervises a number of PhD and DClinPsy students, and will consider new research students interested in the psychology of religion and/or existential psychology. Other topics will also be considered but might be given lower priority. 

He is also a research tutor and honorary lecturer at UCL where he supervises MSc projects in different areas of developmental psychology, and also leads projects on the role of religion and religious pedagogies in early childhood development. 

Omar is a Chartered Member (CPsychol) of the British Psychological Society since 2012, and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2017.