Matthew J. Easterbrook
Research Associate, Cardiff University
PERSONAL
D.O.B:
Current Role:
Address:
Email :
27/01/1985
Research Associate, School of Psychology, Cardiff University
10.06, Tower Building, Park Street, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, Wales
easterbrookmj@cardiff.ac.uk
EDUCATION
2009-2013 - DPhil in Psychology; University of Sussex, UK. Supervisor: Dr Vivian L. Vignoles;
Thesis title: Putting the person in their place: Effects of physical and social contexts on
identity, affiliation, and well-being.
2004-2007 - BSc (Hons) Psychology (First class) ; University of Sussex, UK
RESEARCH ROLES
28/03/2013 - Current — Research Associate, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK.
This is a secondary data analysis project investigating socioeconomic status, education,
social identity, and well-being. It involves analysing large national- and internationaldatasets, disseminating findings, writing papers, dissemination.
01/09/2012 - 18/03/2013 — Research Fellow; School of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK.
This involved contacting and recruiting schools for a large-scale survey and experimental
data collection, data management, cleaning, and analysis, organising a multidisciplinary
conference, dissemination, supervising undergraduate dissertations.
2008-2009 — Research Assistant; School of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK.
This involved conducting in-depth literature reviews, creating annotated bibliographies,
and contributing to the writing of a theoretical paper regarding identity and continuity.
2008 — Research Assistant; Residential Services, University of Sussex, UK.
This involved collating data from an on-line survey, conducting statistical analysis,
presenting results, and writing reports.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, awarded, 2013.
Associate Tutor; 2nd year undergraduate courses, University of Sussex: Research Methods in
Psychology; Social Psychology; Personality and Individual Differences. Duties included
planning and delivering lessons, marking, and giving personalised feedback.
Demonstrator; Masters level statistics courses, University of Sussex: Linear Models; Structural
Equation Modelling. Duties included answering statistical questions on-the-spot in
classes.
Course designer and tutor, IT services, University of Sussex: Beginners SPSS; Intermediate SPSS.
Duties included designing, organising, and teaching workshops.
Supervisor of 5 third year undergraduate empirical projects. This involved regularly meeting
students and aiding in the planning, theorising, and conducting of psychological research.
FUNDING
EASP Seedcorn grant awarded January 2014 - €2000 for the project ‘Unpacking identification’.
Witkin-Okonji Memorial Award awarded March 2012 – funding award to attend the
International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology
(IACCP) in Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2012.
EASP travel grant awarded December 2011 - funding to attend 2012 Australian Summer School
in Social Psychology
University of Sussex Residential Services awarded May 2010 – Funding to conduct psychological
research into the University’s student residences
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research focuses on self and identity; group processes; motivation; and cross-cultural
psychology. My work emphasises the importance of the social and physical context within
which social psychological processes occur, answering questions such as what motivates people
to identify with different types of social groups? How does the physical environment within
which people live affect the way that psychological motivations are satisfied? How can the built
environment influence people’s well-being?
REVIEWING DUTIES
Journal of Environmental Psychology; International Journal of Intercultural Relations; Self and
Identity; European Journal of Social Psychology; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
Review of Social Studies, Journal of Community and Applied Psychology
STATISTICAL SOFTWARE AND EXPERTISE
I have developed expertise in several advanced statistical programmes, including MPlus; MLwiN;
HLM; and SPSS, as well as advanced quantitative techniques, such as latent growth modelling,
hierarchical linear modelling, confirmatory factor analysis, accelerated cohort analysis, and
multivariate modelling.
SUMMER SCHOOLS
2012 Australian Summer School in Social Psychology: One of four EASP postgraduate students
sponsored to attend the SASP summer school in Brisbane, Australia.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
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British Psychological Society
British Psychological Society Social Section
European Association of Social Psychology;
International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology;
IACCP Next Generation;
Society for Personality and Social Psychology;
Social Psychology Network;
Culture and Identity Research Network;
Cardiff Intergroup and Emotions Lab
Society of Australian Social Psychologists.
RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS
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Dr Vivian L. Vignoles, Reader, University of Sussex, UK.
Prof. Robin Banerjee, Professor, University of Sussex, UK.
Dr. Helga Dittmar, Reader, University of Sussex, UK.
Culture and Identity Research Network: collaborative research network spanning 37
nations.
Dr. Margaret Ormiston & Ms Kawon Kim, London Business School.
Dr. Nicolas Geeraert, University of Essex.
Lorina Holness, Residential Services, University of Sussex.
Dr. Toon Kuppens, Department of Psychology, University of Groningen
Prof. Tony Manstead, School of Psychology, Cardiff University
Dr. Mark Wright, University of Roehamptom
Dr. Lise Jans, Life Sciences, University of Groningen
PAPERS AND PUBLICATIONS
Published/in press
Easterbrook, M. J., & Vignoles, V. L. (in press). When friendship formation goes down the
toilet: Design features of shared accommodation influence the development of
interpersonal bonds and well-being. British Journal of Social Psychology.
Becker, M. Vignoles, V. L., Owe, E., Easterbrook, M., Brown, R., Smith, P. B., ...Koller, S. H. (in
press). Cultural bases of self-evaluation: Seeing onself positively in different cultural
contexts. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Easterbrook, M., & Vignoles, V. L. (2013). What does it mean to belong? Interpersonal bonds
and intragroup similarities as predictors of felt belonging in different types of groups.
European Journal of Social Psychology. 43, 455-462. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.1972.
Easterbrook, M., & Vignoles, V. L. (2012). Different groups, different motives: Identity motives
underlying changes in identification with novel groups. Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin, 38, 1066-1080. Doi:10.1177/0146167212444614
Becker, M., Vignoles, V. L., Owe, E., Brown, R., Smith, P. B., Easterbrook, M., … &
Yamakoğlu, N. (2012). Culture and the distinctiveness motive: Constructing identity in
individualistic and collectivistic contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
102, 833-855. doi: 10.1037/a0026853
Owe, E., Vignoles, V. L., Becker, M., Brown, R., Smith, P. B., Lee, S. W. S., Easterbrook, M., …
& Jalal, B. (2012). Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism:
Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44,
24-45. doi: 10.1177/0022022111430255
Easterbrook, M. (2011, August 5). Urbanization and the construction of a distinct identity.
IACCP Youth Group Blog. Retrieved from http://www.iaccp.org/drupal/node/401.
Invited resubmission/ under revision
Easterbrook, M. J., Wright, M., Dittmar, H. E., & Banerjee, R. A. (2013). Consumer culture
ideals, extrinsic motivations, and well-being in children. European Journal of Social Psychology.
CONFERENCE PAPERS
Becker, M., Vignoles, V. L., Easterbrook. M., Owe. E., Brown., R., Smith. P. B., ... & Yamakoğlu,
N. (2013). 15th Jena Workshop on Intergroup Processes, July 4-7.
Easterbrook, M., Dittmar, H. E., Wright, M., Banerjee, R. A. (2013). What happens to children
who want to be too rich and too beautiful over time? Longitudinal research on the
impact of consumer culture values on children's well-being’. Paper presented at the 5th
International Conference on Self-Determination Theory, Rochester, New York, June 2730.
Easterbrook, M., & Owe, E. (2012). Unpacking variation in self and identity across cultures: New
directions and challenges. Symposium presented at the IACCP 21st International
Congress 2012, Stellenbosch, South Africa, July 17-21.
Easterbrook, M., Vignoles, V. L, and members of the Culture and Identity Research Network.
(2012). The generality of identity motives across cultures. Paper presented at the IACCP
21st International Congress 2012, Stellenbosch, South Africa, July 17-21.
Kim, K., Ormiston, M. E., Easterbrook, M., & Vignoles, V. L. (2012). Identity shift toward
belonging in demographically diverse groups. Paper presented at the Seventh Annual
INGRoup Conference, Chicago, USA, July 12-14.
Becker, M., Easterbrook, M., Vignoles, V. L., Owe, E., Brown, R., Smith, P. et al.
(2011). Motivational conflict between distinctiveness and belonging: Fundamental or
cultural? Paper presented at the 16th EASP General Meeting, Stockholm, July 12-16.
Becker, M., Vignoles, V. L., and members of the Culture and Identity Research Network.
(2011). Cultural bases of self-esteem: Seeing oneself positively in different cultural
contexts. Paper presented at the IACCP Regional Conference 2011, Istanbul, Turkey,
June 30 - July 3.
Easterbrook, M., Vignoles, V. L. (2011). The ways we belong: Routes to belonging in different
types of groups. Paper presented at the 16th EASP General Meeting, Stockholm, July 1216.
Easterbrook, M., Vignoles, V. L., and members of the Culture and Identity Research Network.
(2011). Urbanization and the construction of a distinctive identity. Paper presented at the
IACCP Regional Conference 2011, Istanbul, Turkey, June 30 - July 3.
Owe, E., Vignoles, V. L., and members of the Culture and Identity Research Network.
(2011). Measuring culture: Values, beliefs and practices across 34 nations and 57 cultural
groups. Paper presented at the IACCP Regional Conference 2011, Istanbul, Turkey, June
30 - July 3.
Vignoles, V. L., and members of the Culture and Identity Research Network. (2011). Identity
motives in cultural context: An introduction. Paper presented at the IACCP Regional
Conference 2011, Istanbul, Turkey, June 30 - July 3.
Becker, M., Vignoles, V.L., Owe, E., Brown, R., Smith, P.B., Easterbrook, M., ... & Yamakoğlu,
N. (2010). Culture and the distinctiveness principle: Results from a 19-nation
study. Paper presented at the BPS Social Psychology Conference, Winchester, UK,
September 7-9.
Becker, M., Vignoles, V.L., Owe, E., Brown, R.J., Smith, P.B., Easterbrook, M., ... & Yamakoğlu,
N. (2010). The motive for distinctiveness in cultural context: Results from a 19-nation
study. Paper presented at the Congress of the IACCP. Melbourne, Australia, July 7-10.
INVITED RESEARCH TALKS
Easterbrook, M. J., Banerjee, R. A., & Dunkeld, C. (2013). Social contexts of youth well-being:
Socio-economic status, consumer culture, and peer relations. Clinical and Developmental
Research in Practice, Falmer, East Sussex: University of Sussex