Matthew J. Easterbrook
Research Associate, Cardiff University
PERSONAL
D.O.B:
Current Role:
Address:
Email:
Websites:
27/01/1985
Research Associate, School of Psychology, Cardiff University
10.06, Tower Building, Park Street, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, Wales
easterbrookmj@cardiff.ac.uk
http://psych.cf.ac.uk/contactsandpeople/researchstaff/easterbrook.php
http://easterbrook.socialpsychology.org/
EDUCATION
2009-2013:
Ph.D in Psychology; University of Sussex, UK.
Supervisor: Dr Vivian L. Vignoles; External examiner: Prof. Russell Spears.
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 – Present: Research Associate, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK.
I am working on an ESRC funded Secondary Data Analysis Initiative project investigating
socioeconomic status, education, social identity, and well-being. It involves analysing large
national- and international- datasets, disseminating findings, writing papers.
Website: http://psych.cf.ac.uk/home2/issw/
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.
Website: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/psychology/consumercultureproject/
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.
CONSULTANCY
2014: Statistical Consultant: Public Interest Research Centre, North Wales
Well-being Policy Consultant; East Sussex County Council
TEACHING
Awards:
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, awarded, 2013.
2014:
School of Psychology, Cardiff University:
Lecturer:
Postgraduate Research Design and Statistics;
Supervisor:
Research in Practice Placement.
2009-2013:
School of Psychology, University of Sussex:
Associate Tutor:
UG Research Methods in Psychology; UG Social
Psychology; UG Personality and Individual Differences.
Demonstrator:
PGT Linear Models; PGT Structural Equation Modelling.
Supervisor:
5 third year undergraduate empirical projects.
Information Services, University of Sussex:
Designer and Tutor: PGT Beginners SPSS; PGT Intermediate SPSS.
FUNDING AND AWARDS
2014:
EASP Seedcorn grant; awarded January 2014: €2000 for the project ‘Unpacking
identification’.
2012:
Witkin-Okonji Memorial Award ~ £1000, awarded March 2012 – funding to
attend the International Congress of the International Association for CrossCultural Psychology (IACCP) in Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2012.
2011:
EASP travel grant ~ £700, awarded December 2011 - funding to attend 2012
Australian Summer School in Social Psychology
2010:
University of Sussex Residential Services - £400; awarded May 2010 – Funding to
conduct psychological research into the University’s student residences
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research mainly focuses on how the social, cultural, and physical context can influence
psychological processes related to identity, motivation, and social groups, as well as the
consequences of these processes for social interactions, health, and well-being. My PhD
research focused on the motivations involved when people incorporate new group
memberships into their identity, how these motives vary depending on the type of social group
involved, the culture an individual lives in, and the structure of the physical environment. As a
Research Fellow at Sussex, I researched the influence of consumer culture on children's wellbeing, and how identity acts as a mediator of these effects. Now, as a Research Associate at
Cardiff, I am investigating the effects of education and social class on social attitudes and wellbeing, and the role of social identity processes in explaining these links. I am also involved in
various projects investigating the role of identity in health care contexts, and during life
transitions, and how group composition can influence identity and individual productivity.
STATISTICAL SOFTWARE AND EXPERTISE
Programmes:
Methodologies:
MPlus; MLwiN; HLM; Excel, SPSS, Macromedia Dreamweaver.
Latent growth modelling, Multilevel modelling, Confirmatory factor analysis,
Accelerated cohort analysis, Structural equation 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.
REVIEWING DUTIES
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British Educational Research Journal
Child and Youth Care Forum
European Journal of Social Psychology;
International Journal of Intercultural Relations;
Journal of Community and Applied Psychology
Journal of Environmental Psychology;
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
Review of Social Studies,
Self and Identity;
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
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British Psychological Society
British Psychological Society Social Section
Cardiff Intergroup and Emotions Lab
Culture and Identity Research Network;
European Association of Social Psychology;
IACCP Next Generation;
International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology;
Social Psychology Network;
Society for Personality and Social Psychology;
Society of Australian Social Psychologists.
RESEARCH PROJECTS AND COLLABORATIONS
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Cardiff Social Psy. Lab: http://psych.cf.ac.uk/research/social_env_psy/index.php
Consumer Culture Project: www.sussex.ac.uk/psychology/consumercultureproject/
Culture and Identity Research Network: https://sites.google.com/site/identitymotives/
Dr Vivian Vignoles, Prof. Robin Banerjee, Dr. Helga Dittmar; University of Sussex, UK.
Dr. Johann Labuschagne, Dr. Jane Royle, Dr Hazel Reynders; Sheffield Teaching
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Psychological Services, Sheffield, UK.
Dr. Margaret Ormiston, Ms Kawon Kim; London Business School, UK.
Dr. Mark Wright, University of Roehampton, UK.
Dr. Nicolas Geeraert, Ms Kali Demes; University of Essex, UK.
Ms. Rachel O’Brien, Office of National Statistics, National Well-Being Programme
Prof. Greg Maio, Paul Hanel; Values in Action Laboratory, Cardiff University:
http://psych.cf.ac.uk/via/people/
Prof. Russell Spears, Dr. Toon Kuppens, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Prof. Tony Manstead, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK.
Socio-economic Status, Identity, and Well-Being: http://psych.cf.ac.uk/home2/issw/
The Many Labs 2 Project
PAPERS AND PUBLICATIONS
Journal articles published or in press
Easterbrook, M. J., Wright, M., Dittmar, H. E., & Banerjee, R. A. (in press). Consumer culture
ideals, extrinsic motivations, and well-being in children. European Journal of Social Psychology.
Easterbrook, M. J., & Vignoles, V. L. (2014). 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. doi: 10.111/bjso.12062 .
Becker, M. Vignoles, V. L., Owe, E., Easterbrook, M., Brown, R., Smith, P. B., ...Koller, S. H.
(2014). Cultural bases of self-evaluation: Seeing onself positively in different cultural
contexts. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. doi: 10.1177/0146167214522836
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, 833855. 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
Other publications
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.
CONFERENCE PAPERS AND SYMPOSIA
Dittmar, H. E., Easterbrook, M. J., Banerjee, R., Wright, M. L., & Hurst, M. (2014). When the
pursuit of ‘looking good’ is bad for you: Longitudinal evidence on the links between body ideal values,
identity, and well-being in primary and secondary school children. Paper accepted for the 6th
Appearance Matters Conference, Centre for Appearance Research, University of the
West of England, UK, July 1-2.
Easterbrook, M. J., Dittmar, H. E., Banerjee, R., & Wright, M. L. (2014). “My dad’s car is bigger
than your dad’s!”: Children’s relative versus absolute socioeconomic status, self-discrepancies, and wellbeing. Paper accepted for the 17th EASP General Meeting, Amsterdam, July 9-12.
Manstead, A. S. R., Kuppens, T., & Easterbrook, M. J. (2014). Taking the psychology of social class
seriously: New research on socioeconomic status, well-being and prejudice. Symposium accepted for
the 17th EASP General Meeting, Amsterdam, July 9-12.
Becker, M., Vignoles, V. L., Easterbrook. M., Owe. E., Brown., R., Smith. P. B., ... & Yamakoğlu,
N. (2013). Identity motives across cultures. 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 SelfDetermination Theory, Rochester, New York, June 27-30.
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 12-16.
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: Socioeconomic status, consumer culture, and peer relations. Clinical and Developmental Research in
Practice, Falmer, East Sussex: University of Sussex
Easterbrook, M. J., & Dittmar, H. E. (2014). Exploring identity as a driver of change in the context of
psychological and health outcomes. Social and Applied Psychology Research Group Informal
Seminars, Falmer, East Sussex: University of Sussex.