Dr Helga Dittmar

Biography

Education:
BA (Hons) Social Psychology, First Class, University of Sussex, 1985
DPhil, 'Material Possessions and Identity', University of Sussex, 1990
Lecturer in Psychology, University of Sussex, 1990-97

Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Sussex, 1997-2005

Reader in Psychology, University of Sussex, 2005-present

2002 Teaching Award, University of Sussex

Membership of Professional Organisations:
British Psychological Society
European Association for Experimental Social Psychology
Institute for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology
Society for Personality and Social Psychology

Sussex University: Psychology Home Page

Role

Reader in Psychology

Programme Director MSc Applied Social Psychology

The main theme of my research is the impact of consumer society on individuals' sense of identity and well-being.¿ One core area concerns social psychological dimensions of having and buying material goods.¿ Current research includes: meanings and functions of material goods for identity construction; buying motivations and buying behaviour; possible negative consequences of identity-seeking through consumption, such as addictive buying or the impact of materialistic values on subjective well-being; differences between cultures on these factors. ¿The other core area focuses on socio-cultural influences on body image, and current research addresses: the impact of media images on body esteem, and factors that influence vulnerability to the media; predictors of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in adults and adolescents, particularly factors related to identity.

I teach and convene the third year option 'Economic and Consumer Psychology', the masters course 'Social Psychology of Consumer Behaviour' on the MSc in Applied Social Psychology, and I supervise final year projects close to my research interests. I am also the Programme Director of the MSc in Applied Social Psychology.

Student Consultation

Tuesday 4-5 and Wednesdays 12-1

Ku, Lisbeth, Dittmar, Helga and Banerjee, Robin (2012) Are materialistic teenagers less motivated to learn? Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from UK and Hong Kong. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104 (1). pp. 74-86. ISSN 0022-0663

Ku, Lisbeth, Dittmar, Helga and Banerjee, Robin (2012) Are materialistic teenagers less motivated to learn? Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104 (1). pp. 74-86. ISSN 0022-0663

Brown, Rupert, deVisser, Richard, Dittmar, Helga, Drury, John, Farsides, Tom, Jessop, Donna and Sparks, Paul (2012) Social psychology and policy-making: past neglect, future promise. Public Policy Research, 18 (4). pp. 227-234. ISSN 1744-5396

Ashikali, Eleni-Marina and Dittmar, Helga (2011) The effect of priming materialism on women's responses to thin-ideal media. British Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 0144-6665

Dittmar, Helga and Bond, Rod (2010) I want it and I want it now: using a temporal discounting paradigm to examine predictors of consumer impulsivity. British Journal of Psychology, 101 (4). pp. 751-776. ISSN 0007-1269

Ashikali, Eleni-Marina and Dittmar, Helga (2010) Body image and restrained eating in blind and sighted women: A preliminary study. Body Image, 7 (2). pp. 172-175. ISSN 1740-1445

Banerjee, Robin and Dittmar, Helga (2008) Individual differences in children's materialism: the role of peer relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34 (1). pp. 17-31. ISSN 0146-1672

Dittmar, Helga (2008) Consumer culture, identity and well-being : the search for the "good life" and the "body perfect". European Monographs in Social Psychology . Psychology Press. ISBN 9781841696089

Clay, Daniel, Vignoles, Vivian L. and Dittmar, Helga (2005) Body image and self-esteem among adolescent girls: Testing the influence of sociocultural factors. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15 (4). pp. 451-477. ISSN 0743-5584