Role
Dr Liam Cahill (he/him) is a Senior Lecturer in LGBTQ+ Psychology.
His role includes teaching quantitative research methods and statistics while supervising student projects on topics related to LGBTQ+ experiences and mental health. He also teaches LGBTQ+ Psychology across various modules.
His research primarily explores body image within the LGBTQ+ community, particularly among sexual and gender minoritised men. His recent work focuses on body image for trans men, and cisgender bisexual men. He focuses on understanding the health and well-being of these communities.
Liam has a strong commitment to promoting Open Research practices in both teaching and research and recently was awarded an NTU Open Research Award (2024; https://www.ntu.ac.uk/research/research-and-impact/open-research/open-research-awards).
Liam is actively involved in departmental initiatives, including the department EDI committee, leading the LGBTQ+ Health and Well-being Research Group and contributing to the NTU Open Research committee (both at the university and departmental level).
Liam teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate modules, including:
- Research Methods 1 & 2
- Undergraduate and Postgraduate Statistics
- Develop Academic Skills in Psychology
He also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate projects exploring the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Liam teaches various psychology modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. These include Research Methods 1 & 2, Gender, Identity and Body Image, Psychology in Context (focusing on LGBTQ+ psychology), Psychology of the Family (covering LGBTQ+ families), and statistics courses at both levels. In addition to teaching, he supervises students in the undergraduate LGBTQ+ project lab and oversees MSc/MRes, PhD, and Professional Doctorate candidates across diverse topics. His current supervision responsibilities are:
- Jaimie Tillsley: Movement as Social Medicine: A co-designed group-based physical activity package for young trans and gender diverse adults and its impact on loneliness, mental health and sedentarism.
- Cameron Glen: Polyamory and Social Media: Between Mainstream and Counterpublic Social Networking.
Career overview
Liam graduated with a first-class honours BSc in Psychology from NTU in 2019, receiving the BPS Award. He earned an MSc in Psychological Research Methods with distinction in 2020, along with the Highest Performance Award.
He completed his PhD in October 2023, focusing on how situational threats influence men's body shape and size preferences. Liam has held academic and research positions at NTU since 2020 and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Research areas
Liam specialises in research investigating body image for sexual and gender minoritised men. He is particularly interested in exploring body image in trans and cisgender bisexual men, populations that are comparatively neglected within body image research.
His current work is exploring predictors of body image for bisexual men. He is also completing work looking at body image in trans men, focusing on the role of gender congruence and functionality appreciation.
You can find a full list of Liam’s ongoing projects on his OSF page: https://osf.io/64myn/
External activity
Liam is an editorial board member for Psychology & Sexuality and reviews for the International Journal of Transgender Health and Sexuality Research and Social Policy. He is also a book reviewer for Pearson. Liam is a regional network (UK) co-chair of the International Partnership for Queer Youth Resilience (INQYR).
Sponsors and collaborators
Liam's collaborators include Dr Beth Jones and Professor Daragh McDermott from NTU. He also works with Professor Jason Schaub from the University of Birmingham.
Publications
You can find a full list of my publications on my ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7897-0862.
A sample of Liam’s most recent publications include:
Journal submissions:
- Cahill, L., Malik, M., Jones, B. A., Perera, A. T.-M., & McDermott, D. T. (2024). Tackling bisexual erasure: An explorative comparison of bisexual, gay and straight cisgender men’s body image. Body Image, 51, 101763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101763
- Cahill, L., Leunissen, J. M., Marriott, M., & Dunn, A. K. (2024). Quality of Life and Body Dissatisfaction in Cisgender Men Reporting Sexual Attraction Toward Men or Women. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 20(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.11423
- Jones, B. A., Nguyen, Alisha. L., Sequeira, G. M., Morrison, S. D., & Cahill, L. (2024). The gender congruences and life satisfaction scale for transgender and gender-diverse youth (GCLS-Y): A validation study with samples from the UK and US. International Journal of Transgender Health, 0(0), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2024.2397720
- Jones, B. A., Cahill, L., & McDermott, D. T. (2023). Gender, traditional gender ideology, gender essentialist beliefs, and masculinity threat as determinants of attitudes toward trans and gender diverse people in a U.K. sample. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000658
Conference submissions:
- Cahill, L, Jones, B. A., Nguyen, Alisha. L., Sequeira, G. M., & Morrison, S. D. (2024, October). The gender congruences and life satisfaction scale for transgender and gender-diverse youth (GCLS-Y): A validation study with samples from the UK and US. [Oral presentation]. Re:INQYR, Mexico City, Mexico.
- Cahill, L., Jones, B. A., & McDermott, D. T. (2023, August). Gender, traditional gender ideology, gender essentialist beliefs, and masculinity threat as determinants of attitudes toward trans and gender diverse people in a U.K. sample. [Oral presentation]. British Psychological Society Social Section, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Cahill, L., Martin, S., Schaub, J., Luyt, R., Craig, S., & McDermott, D. (2023, April). Evaluating the efficacy of QueerViBE: A randomised control trial to empower and improve resilience in trans and gender diverse youth. [Poster presentation]. Strategic Research Themes Conference, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Press expertise
- LGBTQ+ Psychology
- Health and Well-being
- Body Image
Activities relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Liam's research and teaching activities focus on reducing inequalities and improving health and well-being for LGBTQ+ people. His activities are aligned with the UNSDG: THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development (un.org)
