Teresa Romero

Biography

I am a member of the Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology at the Department of Psychology, having joined Portsmouth in 2022. Prior to this, worked at the University of Lincoln and held postdoc positions at The University of Tokyo (Japan), SOKENDAI (Japan), and Emory University (USA). I completed my PhD in Animal Behaviour at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), have a MSc in Animal Behaviour and a BSc in Biology and Zoology.

Research interests

My primary research interest focuses on the social and emotional skills that animals employ when making decisions about when, and with whom, to interact. This interest has taken me to explore aspects of sociality, conflict resolution, cooperation, and empathy driven behaviours in a range of animals including carnivores, primates and rodents. In recent years, I have become strongly interested in applying fundamental knowledge in animal social complexity to the welfare of both captive and wild animals. I am co-director of the Macaca Maura Project.

Teaching responsibilities

I teach on our undergraduate programmes of BSc Psychology and Forensic Psychology courses. I coordinate the Level 4 module Applying Psychological Research Skills. I am a tutor for the Level 4 module 'Exploring Psychology' and the Level 5 module 'Professional Development and Employability'. I supervise Level 6 students for their final year dissetation, as well as PhD students and Masters students.

Research outputs

2025

Older adults looking at dog pictures - psychobiological effects

Correia-Caeiro, C., Romero, T., Guo, K., Mills, D. S.

30 Jun 2025, In: Acta Psychologica. 258, 14p., 105221

Research output: Article

Community science as a potential tool to monitor animal demography and human-animal interactions

Maréchal, L., Lobo, R., McAdam, F., Simpson, E., Woolston, J., Stanley, M., Romero, T., Dunn, J. C.

21 Jan 2025, In: Scientific Reports. 15, 14p., 2730

Research output: Article

2024

Social tension after grooming in wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) is sex specific and sensitive to social relationships

Wright, C. I., Majolo, B., Schino, G., Ventura, R., Romero, T.

1 Sep 2024, In: American Journal of Primatology. 86, 9, 14p., e23664

Research output: Article

Mind your language! Lessons from the application of an English published version of a Japanese horse personality instrument to a French population

Ricci-Bonot, C., Romero, T., Nicol, C., Mills, D. S.

1 Apr 2024, In: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 273, 8p., 106237

Research output: Article

2023

An inconsistent social buffering effect from a static visual substitute in horses (Equus caballus): A pilot study

Ricci-Bonot, C., Romero, T., Nicol, C., Mills, D.

1 Sep 2023, In: Journal of Veterinary Behavior. 67

Research output: Article

2022

The habituation process in two groups of wild moor macaques (Macaca maura)

Hernández Tienda, C., Majolo, B., Romero, T., Illa Maulany, R., Oka Ngakan, P., Beltrán Francés, V., Gregorio Hernández, E., Gómez-Melara, J., Llorente, M., Amici, F.

1 Apr 2022, In: International Journal of Primatology. 43, 2, p. 291-316, 26p.

Research output: Article