Bradley’s research focuses on social cognition, particularly the psychological processes underlying judgements of intentionality, responsibility, praise, and blame. His doctoral work examined the Side-Effect Effect (bradkennedy-phd.github.io), exploring how factors such as social context, perceived power, and environmental influences shape moral and intentionality judgements. His work draws on and contributes to theoretical frameworks such as the Deep-Self Concordance Model, the Norm Violation Model and related accounts of moral cognition.

His research adopts a rigorous quantitative and experimental approach, often utilising preregistered study designs and advanced statistical modelling techniques, including cumulative link mixed models using R. Bradley is a strong advocate of Open Research practices, routinely sharing data, materials, and analysis code through platforms such as the Open Science Framework (osf.io/ekmyr), and embedding transparency throughout the research lifecycle.

He has contributed to large-scale collaborative projects, including work with the Psychological Science Accelerator, and has published in peer-reviewed journals spanning cognitive and interdisciplinary psychology. In addition to empirical research, Bradley has contributed to the development of open research infrastructure, including co-developing the Open Research Calendar (openresearchcalendar.org), which supports global engagement with open science initiatives.

Finally, Bradley is also interested in developing research and administrative applications to support academic and professional service colleagues by automating and centralising routine administrative tasks.