Biography

Dr. Muhammad Mussaffa Butt is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Government College University, Lahore. He earned his PhD in Psychology from GCU, where his experimental work was conducted in collaboration with Professor Glyn Humphreys at the University of Oxford. He later completed a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Birmingham, UK, under Professor Heather Flowe, focusing on eyewitness memory and forensic cognition. His research and teaching integrate themes of interpersonal acceptance-rejection, emotion regulation, substance use, and forensic psychology, bridging social, cognitive, and clinical perspectives. Dr. Butt has established multiple international collaborations. He is a participating member of Rohner Center (UCONN, US), and continues to contribute to cross-cultural research networks on psychological adjustment and interpersonal relationships. He has over 25 publications in top journals (e.g. Nature Human Behaviour), serves on several academic committees, and supervises advanced research in personality, emotion, and maladjustment. His academic leadership extends to curriculum development and program coordination, reflecting a strong commitment to advancing psychological science in Pakistan and globally.

Education

• Post Doc in Psychology, University Of Birmingham (Birmingham, England) 2020
• PhD in Psychology, Government College University, Lahore (Lahore, Pakistan) 2016
• MS/MPhil in Psychology, Government College University, Lahore (Lahore, Pakistan) 2010
• Masters in Psychology, University Of The Punjab, Lahore (Lahore, Pakistan) 2002

Teaching Areas

Experience

Journal Papers

• Butt, M.M., Rohner, R.P., Abreu, R.L. (2026). "Best Friends’ Acceptance Moderates the Effects of Parental Rejection on Psychological Wellbeing Among Transgender Women in Pakistan." Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity . DOI: 10.1037/sgd0000897 | Impact Factor: 3.9
• Butt, M.M., Altaf, A., Ashdown, B.K. & Rohner, R.P (2025). "How memories of childhood parental rejection and maladjustment predict academic performance among adults with special needs." British Journal of Special Education , Vol. 3 (52) , pp. 440-448. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.70044 | Impact Factor: 1.4
• Buchanan, E.M., Cuccolo, K., Heyman, T., Niels van Berkel, Coles, N.A., Iyer, A., Peters, K., Anna E. van ’t Veer, Montefinese, M., Maxwell, N.P., Taylor, J.E., Valentine, K.D., Arriaga, P., Barzykowski, K., Boucher, L., Collins, W.M., Vasidis, D.C., A (2025). "Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages." Nature Human Behaviour , pp. 1–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02254-x | Impact Factor: 15.9
• Butt, M. M., Melendez‐Rhodes, T., & Rohner, R. P. (2025). "Memories of Parental Rejection in Childhood and Current Psychological Maladjustment Predict Men's Problems Recognising Facial Expressions of Emotion." International Journal of Psychology , Vol. 60 (2) , pp. e70024.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.70024 | Impact Factor: 1.6
• Ingham, M.P., Gibbs, B.D., Colloff, M.F., Stevens, L.M., Edwards, O.M., Rockowitz, S.R., Hayre, R.K., Butt, M.M., Morris, C.A. and Flowe, H.D. (2025). "The Effects of Acute Alcohol Intoxication on Metamemory Processes and Accuracy When Recalling a Rape Scenario.." Applied Cognitive Psychology , Vol. 39 , pp. e70038. DOI: . https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.70038 | Impact Factor: 1.8
• Butt, M. M., Rohner, R. P., & Zaki, N. M (2024). "Adults' memories of parental acceptance–rejection in childhood and psychological (mal)adjustment predict forgiveness and vengeance." Infant and Child Development , pp. e2511. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2511 | Impact Factor: 2.9
• Butt, M. M., Naveed, A., & Qayyum, S. (2024). "Blended Learning, Learning Motivation, and Academic Performance in Undergraduate Science Students." IUB Journal of Social Sciences , Vol. 6 (1) , pp. 36-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52461/ijoss.v6i1.2884
• Malik, F., Faran, M., Butt, M.M. (2024). "Remembered Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Fear of Intimacy in Married and Unmarried Men and Women in Pakistan." IUB Journal of Social Sciences .
• Buchanan, E.M., Lewis, S.C., Paris, B., Forscher, P.S., Pavlacic, J.M., Beshears, J.E., Drexler, S.M., Gourdon-Kanhukamwe, A., Mallik, P.R., Silan, M. A.A., Miller, J.K., Ijzerman, H., Beaudry, J.L., Suchow, J.W., Chartier, C.R., Coles. N.A.,...Butt, M.M. (2023). "Psychological Science Accelerator's COVID-19 Rapid-Response Dataset." Scientific Data , Vol. 10 (1) , pp. 87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01811-7 | Impact Factor: 6
• Ali, S., Butt, M.M., Rohner, R.P (2023). "Relations Among Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Forgiveness and Vengeance: A Comparison Between Pakistani Madrassa and Public School Students." The Journal of Genetic Psychology , Vol. 185 (3) , pp. 167-180. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2023.2292036 | Impact Factor: 1.8
• Chattha, A. H., & Butt, M. M (2023). "Suicidal Ideation and Its Correlates among Medical and Engineering Students: A Comparative Study." Journal of Social Sciences Review , Vol. 3 (1) , pp. 727-736. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54183/jssr.v3i1.220
• Psychological Science Accelerator Self-Determination Theory Collaboration (2022). "A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , Vol. 119 (2) , pp. e2111091119.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2111091119 | Impact Factor: 11.1
• Aftab, A., Cheema, I.U., Butt, M.M. (2022). "Conflict Management Styles, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Counterproductive Work Behaviour In Industry Workers." Webology , Vol. 19 (3) , pp. 1128-1143.
• Aftab, A., Elahi, A.R., Butt, M.M (2022). "Factual Autonomy Predict Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Counterproductive Work Behaviour in Industry Workers Mediated by Burnout." Journal of Development and Social Sciences , Vol. 3 (2) , pp. 485-497. DOI: http://doi.org/10.47205/jdss.2022(3-II)46
• Dorison, C.A., Lerner, J.S., Heller, B.H., Rothman, A.J., Kawachi, I.I., Wang, K., Rees, V.W., Gill, B.P., Gibbs, N., Ebersole, C.R., Vally, Z., Tajchman, Z., Zsido, A.N., Zrimseck, M., Chen, Z., Ziano, I., Gialitaki, Z., Ceary, C.D., Jang, Y.,…Butt, M.M. (2022). "In COVID-19 Health Messaging, Loss Framing Increases Anxiety with Little-to-No Concomitant Benefits: Experimental Evidence from 84 Countries." Affective Science , Vol. 3 , pp. 557-602. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-022-00128-3 | Impact Factor: 2.2
• Butt, M.M., Watson, R.J., Rohner, R.P., Malik, F (2022). "Memories of Parental Rejection in Childhood and Current Psychological Maladjustment Predict Substance Abuse in a Collectivist Religious Country." Journal of Child and Family Studies , Vol. 31 , pp. 2608-2617. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02323-z | Impact Factor: 2.4
• Kovacs, M., Protzko, J., Nagy, T., Kekecs, Z., Palfi, B., Adamkovič, M., Adamus, S., Albalooshi, S., Albyrak-Aydemir, N., Alper, S., Solas, S.S., Alves, S., Amaya, S., Anderson, P., Anjum, G., Ansari, D., Arriaga, P., Aruta, J.J.B., Arvanitis, A., ...Butt (2022). "Situational factors shape moral judgments in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern, and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample." Nature Human Behaviour , pp. 1-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01319-5 | Impact Factor: 24.3
• Ali, M., & Butt, M. M. (2022). "Spiritual well-being, resilience, and life satisfaction in general and religious education institutes." UCP Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences , Vol. 1 (1) , pp. 27-71. DOI: http://ojs.ucp.edu.pk/index.php/jhss/article/view/5
• Wang K., Goldenberg A., Dorison, C.A., Miller, J.K., Uusberg, A., Lerner, J.S., Gross, J.J., Agesin, B.B., Bernardo, M., Campos, O., Eudave, L., Grzech, K., Ozery, D.H., Jackson, E.A., Luis Garcia, E.O., Drexler, S.M., Jurković, A.P., Rana, K.,.. Butt, M. (2021). "A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic." Nature Human Behaviour , Vol. 5 , pp. 1089-1110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01173-x | Impact Factor: 24.3
• Butt, M. M., Colloff, M. F., Magner, E., & Flowe, H. D. (2020). "Eyewitness memory in the news can affect the strategic regulation of memory reporting." Memory , Vol. 30 (6) , pp. 763-774. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1846750 | Impact Factor: 2.3
• Rohner, R. P., Putnick, D. L., Molaver, A. D., Ali, S., Butt, M. M., Ibrahim, D. M., Aurino, C., Blom, M.J.M., Darwesh, F.H., Auricchio, S., Radha, A.H., Miranda, M.C., Adamsons, K., Senese, V.P. (2020). "Psychological maladjustment mediates the link between remembrances of parental rejection in childhood and loneliness in adulthood: A cross‐cultural comparative study." International Journal of Psychology , Vol. 55 (4) , pp. 590-600. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12621 | Impact Factor: 3.4
• Walayat, S., & Butt, M.M. (2017) (2017). "Parental acceptance-rejection, childhood trauma, emotion regulation, and psychological adjustment as the risk factors of psychopathic tendencies in adolescents of Pakistan." International Journal of Business and Social Research , Vol. 7 (5) .
• Butt, M. M., Malik, F., & Hoffmann, H. (2015). "Emotion Recognition in Individuals with Substance Use Disorder." Journal of Behavioural Sciences , Vol. 25 (2) , pp. 47-64.
• Malik, F., Butt, M. M., Kausar, R., Najam, N., & Rasool, F (2014). "Parental Acceptance and Power/Prestige as Predictors of Psychological Adjustment Among Pakistani Adolescents." Cross-Cultural Research , Vol. 48 (3) , pp. 278-285. DOI: https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/CCR | Impact Factor: 2.6

Conference Papers

• International Conference on ‘Health and Wellbeing’ (2017), Lahore. , Paper: "Perceived parental acceptance-rejection and psychological adjustment in girls with and without male siblings"
• The 6th International Congress on Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection (2016), Madrid, Spain. , Paper: "Psychological Adjustment Mediates the Relation between Remembrances of Parental Acceptance-Rejection in Childhood and the Level of Adults’ Loneliness in Pakistan"
• International Conference of Applied Psychology (ICAPP) (2012), PU, Lahore. , Paper: "Perception of Interparental Conflicts and Emotion Regulation"
• One Day Muslim Psychology Conference on “Hope for Better Tomorrow (2012), Lahore, Pakistan. , Paper: "Jadeed Nafsiyat aur Islami Nukta e Nazar"
• First International Conference on “Forensic Psychology: Issues and Interventions (2010), GCU, Lahore. , Paper: "Emotion Recognition among Drug Addicts"

Projects

Awards/Achievements

• • Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Foreign Post-Doctoral Fellowships Program FY 2017-2018 (PHASE III) (2017), Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC). Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Foreign Post-Doctoral Fellowships Program FY 2017-2018 (PHASE III), for 9-12 Months at University of Birmingham, UK with Prof. Heather Flowe, September 6, 2019, to August 31, 2020.
• • International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP) (2015), Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. • International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP) Scholarship [Higher Education Commission, Government of Pakistan] for 6 months internship at University of Oxford, UK with Professor Glyn Humphreys (late), March 24, 2015, to September 03, 2015

Thesis/Research Supervisions

• Asad Iqbal (2024), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Compassion for self, others and positive and negative affect among young adults" (Completed)
• Luqman Answer (2024), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Cognitive flexibility, resilience and quality of life in young adults" (Completed)
• Ahmed Altaf (2023), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Parental acceptanc-rejection, academic achievement and psychological adjustment among children and young adults with special needs" (Completed)
• Alishba Saleem (2023), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Job Satisfaction, Job performance, work-life balance, and workplace stress among textile mill employees" (Completed)
• Laraib Aslam (2023), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Personality traits, achievement motivation, career decision making, and psychological well-being among young adults" (Completed)
• Maham Jamil (2023), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Work experience, psychological well-being, job satisfaction and job performance among tourism employees" (Completed)
• Mahnoor Zahra (2023), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Superstitious beliefs, personality traits, perceived stress in university students" (Completed)
• Iqra Kashaf (2022), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Marital satisfaction, emotional wellbeing, job satisfaction and life satisfaction of working women" (Completed)
• Mehwish Zulfiqar (2022), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Effect of Emotional Intelligence, Psychological Wellbeing on Job Burnout, mediated by Work Engagement among College Teachers" (Completed)
• Nabila Ikram (2022), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Job embeddedness, organizational citizenship behaviour and innovative work behaviour in pharmaceutical companies" (Completed)
• Saba Ahsan Malik (2022), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Job stress, burnout, job satisfaction and job performance of employees in the fertilization sector" (Completed)
• Tariq Nadeem (2022), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Emotional Intelligence, subjective wellbeing and organizational commitment of medical sales representatives" (Completed)
• Zeeshan Bashir (2022), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Self-esteem, academic hopefulness, educational self-efficacy and academic achievement in adolescents" (Completed)
• Amna Yousaf (2021), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Perceived Social Support, Coping Strategies and Life Satisfaction among University Students during COVID-19 Pandemic" (Completed)
• Ayesha Naveed (2021), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Blended Learning Influence on Learning Motivation and Academic Achievement" (Completed)
• Maryam Nadeem (2021), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Impulsivity, Internet gaming addiction, Dark triad and Suicidal Ideation among Pakistani adolescents and young adults" (Completed)
• Seema Nasir (2021), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Dark Triad, Perceived Supervisor Acceptance - Rejection, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Counterproductive Work Behaviours" (Completed)
• Seema Nasir (2021), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Dark Triad, Perceived Supervisor Acceptance - Rejection, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Counterproductive Work Behaviours" (Completed)
• Sadia Naeem (2020), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Impact of parental acceptance-rejection on psychological adjustment, vengeance and forgiveness" (Completed)
• Anum Rashid (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Self-Esteem, Emotional Regulation, Life Satisfaction and Academic Performance in University Students" (Completed)
• Ayesha Ayub (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Perceived Parental and Best Friend Acceptance-Rejection, Self-Esteem and Psychological Adjustment in Adolescents and Young Adults" (Completed)
• Iqra Idrees (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Perceived Parental Acceptance-Rejection Alexithymia, Psychological Adjustment and Procrastination Among Adolescents and Young Adults" (Completed)
• Javeria Pervez (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Depressive Systems, Social Anxiety and Weight Base Discrimination Among Obese People" (Completed)
• Javeria Shahid (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Correlates of Academic Achievement in Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate Students" (Completed)
• Misbah Rubab (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Perceived Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Self-Assertiveness in Adolescents and Young Adults" (Completed)
• Nafeesa Qasim (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Death Anxiety, Life Satisfaction and Aging" (Completed)
• Rawish Irfan (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Correlates of Work Motivation in Bank Employees" (Completed)
• Rimza Arif (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Organizational Socialization, Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention in the Employees of Telecom Sector" (Completed)
• Sehrish Mukhtar (2018), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Quality of Work, Job Embeddedness, Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Turnover Intention in Employees of Service and Goods Industries" (Completed)
• Amina Farrukh (2017), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Self-Esteem, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment in Disabled and Able-bodied Employees" (Completed)
• Ammara SanaUllah (2017), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Perceived Parental, Teacher and Best Friend Acceptance-Rejection, Psychological Adjustment and Life Satisfaction in Hostalied Students" (Completed)
• Ayesha Aftab (2017), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Correlates of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour in Employees of National and Multinational Companies" (Completed)
• Mahwish Liaqat (2017), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Intimate Partner Acceptance-Rejection, Psychological Adjustment and Severity of Dependence in Individuals with Substance Use Disorder" (Completed)
• Rabia Hanif (2017), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Happiness, Loneliness, Emotional Regulation, Self-Efficacy, Self-Consciousness & Life Satisfaction among Clinical & Non-clinical Population" (Completed)
• Rabia Rashid (2017), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Correlates of Organizational Commitment and Burnout In Middle Level Employees in The Commercial Banks of Pakistan" (Completed)
• Sadia Anwar (2017), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Coping With Retrospection of Perceived Parental Rejection in Childhood and Intimate Partner Acceptance-Rejection" (Completed)
• Aleena Chaudhry (2016), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Childhood Perception of Interparental Conflicts, Childhood Trauma, Life Satisfaction and Alexithymia" (Completed)
• Fiza Ikram (2016), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Psychological Capital, Job Satisfaction, Burnout and Satisfaction with Life in Pakistani Employees" (Completed)
• Iqra Mehmood (2016), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Why I decided to Part Ways with my Husband!" (Completed)
• Maryam Azmat (2016), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Perception of Justice, Employee Empowerment, Organization Culture, and its Effect on Employee’s Turnover" (Completed)
• Nayab Sikandar (2016), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Role of Future Time Perspective in Coping Behaviour, Life Satisfaction and psychological adjustment in orphans and non-orphan" (Completed)
• Sadaf Saleem (2016), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Psychological Empowerment, Individual Readiness for Change in Relation to Organizational Citizenship Behaviour in Employees of Corporate Sector" (Completed)
• Sidra Bashir (2016), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Emotional Regulation, Burnout and Quality of Life of Doctors and Nurses" (Completed)
• Saher Ilyas (2015), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Human Resource Management Practices, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Turnover" (Completed)
• Bushra Fazeelat (2014), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Emotional Labour, Psychological Adjustment and Job Satisfaction in Hospitality Staff" (Completed)
• Farina Sanam (2014), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Perceived Family Acceptance-Rejection in Psychological Adjustment of Adolescents" (Completed)
• Hafsa Riaz (2014), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Psychological Adjustment and Personality Traits in ‘Khawajasaras’" (Completed)
• Maryam Farooq (2014), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Burnout, Psychological Adjustment and Organization Citizenship Behaviour in Banks" (Completed)
• Saba Walayat (2014), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "51. Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Childhood Trauma as the Risk Factors for Psychological Adjustment and Psychopathic Tendencies in Adolescents of Pakistan" (Completed)
• Sana Fatima (2014), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Gender Differences in Psychological Adjustment and Life Satisfaction in Old Age Widowhood" (Completed)
• Shahbano Sheharyar (2014), MS/MPhil. Thesis: "Spousal Acceptance and Conflict Resolution Strategies in Socio-Cultural Context of Pakistan" (Completed)