Post:	Reader in Psychology
Location:	Pevensey 1 2B05
Email:	H.E.Dittmar@sussex.ac.uk
Telephone numbers
Internal:	8070
UK:	(01273) 678070
International:	+44 1273 678070

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

Research

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.

Teaching

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.

Publications

Selected recent publications

Dittmar, H. (2008). Consumer Society, Identity, and Well-Being: The Search for the \'Good Life' and the \'Body Perfect'. European Monographs in Social Psychology Series (edited by Rupert Brown). London and New York: Psychology Press.

Dittmar, H., Long, K. & Bond, R. (2007). When a better self is only a button click away: Associations between materialistic values, emotional and identity-related buying motives, and compulsive buying tendency online. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26, 334-361. 

Dittmar, H. (2007). The costs of consumer culture and the \'cage within': The impact of the material \'good life' and \'body perfect' ideals on individuals' identity and well-being. Commentary on Kasser, T. Cohn, S., Kanner, A. D., & Ryan, R. M. (2007). Some costs of American corporate capitalism: A psychological exploration of value and goal conflicts. Psychological Inquiry, 18, 1-9.

Bell, B. T., Lawson, R., & Dittmar, H. (2007). The impact of thin models in music videos on adolescent girls' body dissatisfaction. Body Image, 4, 137-145.

Halliwell, E., Dittmar, H., & Orsborn, A. (2007). The effects of exposure to muscular male models amongst men who use the gym and non-exercisers: The moderating role of exercising to increase muscle strength. Body Image, 4, 278-287.

Banerjee, R. & Dittmar, H. (2007). Individual differences in children's materialism: The role of peer relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Dittmar, H., Halliwell, E., & Ive, S. (2006). Does Barbie make girls want to be thin? The effect of experimental exposure to images of dolls on the body image of 5-8-year-old girls. Developmental Psychology, 42, 283-292.

Halliwell, E., & Dittmar, H. (2006). Associations between appearance-related self-discrepancies and young women's and men's affect, body image, and emotional eating: A comparison of fixed-item and respondent-generated self-discrepancy measures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 447-458.

Dittmar, H. (2005). Compulsive buying behaviour - a growing concern? An empirical exploration of the role of gender, age, and materialism. British Journal of Psychology, 96, 467-491.

Halliwell, E. & Dittmar, H. (2005). The role of self-improvement and self-evaluation motives in social comparisons with idealised female bodies in the media. Body Image, 2, 249-261.

Dittmar, H. (2005). A new look at "compulsive buying": Self-discrepancies and materialistic values as predictors of compulsive buying tendency. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 806-833.

Dittmar, H. & Howard, S. (2004a). Professional hazards? The impact of model's body size on advertising effectiveness and women's body-focused anxiety in professions that do and do not emphasize the cultural ideal of thinness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 1-33.

Dittmar, H. & Howard, S. (2004b). Thin-ideal internalization and social comparison tendency as moderators of media models' impact on women's body-focused anxiety. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 747-770.

Halliwell, E. & Dittmar, H. (2004). Does size matter? The impact of model's body size on advertising effectiveness and women's body-focused anxiety. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 104-122.