Shelley McKeown Jones is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Oxford. Her research examines how social psychological theories can be applied to understand and improve intergroup relations, particularly amongst young people in conflict and diverse societies.

Professor McKeown Jones is based in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford and is a Tutorial Fellow in Experimental Psychology at Lady Margaret Hall. Influenced by her time growing up in Northern Ireland, her research focuses on understanding the factors that shape everyday segregation, intergroup contact and constructive societal engagement in divided societies.

A central strand of her research examines when, where and how people from different groups interact and the consequences of these interactions for social attitudes and behaviour. Her work combines survey, experimental, observational, GPS-tracking and participatory methods, examining intergroup relations as they unfold in real-world social and physical environments.

Professor McKeown Jones has led major research projects examining youth intergroup contact and segregation. Her research has received awards from the British Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association. She is currently Co-Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Social Psychology and has held leadership roles in the International Society of Political Psychology, the British Psychological Society and the International Network for Peace Psychology.