“I want to understand the philosophical questions”

Patrik Sörqvist wants to understand how people think. With a broad knowledge of scientific methods, he tackles questions that sometimes borders philosophical. As Visiting Professor in Psychology at Luleå University of Technology, he will create research environments.

Patrik Sörqvist is back in Luleå. This is where he completed his doctoral thesis in 2010, on why people are more or less distracted by sound when trying to concentrate. Since February 2023, he is a Visiting Professor at Luleå University of Technology in addition to his regular position as Professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Gävle. He is a cognitive psychologist who aims to understand how people think, how they make decisions. These questions are in his research bridged to environmental issues – how people, for example, assess environmental problems or their environmental impact and how the environment affects them.

Memory and environmental impact

Together with other researchers in Psychology at Luleå University of Technology, he hopes to soon start a project on short-term memory and tackle a number of theories about why we remember or forget over a short period of time. Another project is about how memory interacts with how people perceive their environmental impact.

“In concrete terms, it could be that you go to a mall and buy a number of things in a certain order. Making environmentally friendly choices at a certain time affects your sense of your environmental impact compared to if it was done in a different order. Perhaps more knowledge can help us understand how to get people to behave more environmentally friendly,” says Patrik Sörqvist.

Developing research infrastructure

At Luleå University of Technology, in addition to conducting a number of research projects, he will also develop research infrastructure. He is currently working on creating a lab for data collection and a physical platform to facilitate studies.

“I have a fairly broad knowledge of methods and am happy to help create various experiments. Study design is my thing,” he says.

Fundamental curiosity

Patrik Sörqvist finds environmental issues a major societal challenge, and that research in psychology can contribute to solutions. At the same time, the driving force is a more fundamental curiosity.

“I have always been fascinated by the human mind, and memory is one of the most fascinating things to study. I want to understand the philosophical questions.”

Even when not at work, his interest in psychology affects his interests. In addition to spending time with his family with two children, he enjoys playing chess and has been an active competitive player. Another interest is film and series, often with a psychological theme.

“I am very fond of director Park Chan-wook. Oldboy is one of my favorite movies. It has an incredible psychological depth on the theme revenge. But it has to be the South Korean original, there is an American remake that I cannot recommend,” says Patrik Sörqvist.

Visiting researchers to strenghten the subject

Within the research subject Psychology, several Visiting Researchers have been recruited to strengthen and broaden the subject at Luleå University of Technology.

“Scouting for successful researchers is an important part of my work. It can be compared to a football coach finding prominent key players for positions where the lineup needs to be strengthened,” says Jessica K. Ljungberg, Professor and Head of Subject.