Helga Dittmar, D.Phil, is Reader in Psychology at the University of Sussex in England, where she completed her undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, after beginning her studies in psychology at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. Her research focuses on mass consumer society and how this has an impact on people’s sense of who they are and their well-being. Her work has received strong media interest (TV, radio) and includes: psychological functions of material possessions, buying motivations, compulsive buying, materialism, as well as the influence of the mass media on the body image of girls, women and men.

'Helga Dittmar produces irrefutable research evidence of the pernicious effects of the culturally reinforced belief; to be more, one has to have more, whether it’s shoes, bags, cameras, cars, thinness, or muscles.' – April Lane Benson, Ph.D. Founder, Stopping Overshopping, LLC and Co-founder of the Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia'Helga Dittmar is an internationally recognised expert on the social psychology of consumption and its relationship to identity and well being. Her accessible prose style and her convincing use of experimental evidence, much of which has been collected by Helga and her research colleagues, culminates in a message that needs to be heard.' – Alan Lewis, Professor of Economic Psychology, University of Bath

• 1. Understanding the Impact of Consumer Culture 2. To Have is to Be? Psychological Functions of Material Possessions 3. Consuming Passions? Psychological Motives for Buying Consumer Goods 4. Is this as Good as it Gets? Materialistic Values and Well-Being 5. I Shop Therefore I Am? Compulsive Buying and Identity-Seeking 6. Does Size Matter? The Impact of Ultra-Thin Media Models on Women's Body Image and on Advertising Effectiveness 7. Think 'Ideal' and Feel Bad? Using Self-Discrepancies to Understand Negative Media Effects 8. What is Beautiful and Who is 'Cool'? Consumer Culture and Socialisation 9. What is the Price of Consumer Culture? Consequences, Implications, and the Cage Within.

Helga Dittmar, D.Phil, is Reader in Psychology at the University of Sussex in England, where she completed her undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, after beginning her studies in psychology at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. Her research focuses on mass consumer society and how this has an impact on people’s sense of who they are and their well-being. Her work has received strong media interest (TV, radio) and includes: psychological functions of material possessions, buying motivations, compulsive buying, materialism, as well as the influence of the mass media on the body image of girls, women and men.

'Helga Dittmar produces irrefutable research evidence of the pernicious effects of the culturally reinforced belief; to be more, one has to have more, whether it’s shoes, bags, cameras, cars, thinness, or muscles.' – April Lane Benson, Ph.D. Founder, Stopping Overshopping, LLC and Co-founder of the Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia'Helga Dittmar is an internationally recognised expert on the social psychology of consumption and its relationship to identity and well being. Her accessible prose style and her convincing use of experimental evidence, much of which has been collected by Helga and her research colleagues, culminates in a message that needs to be heard.' – Alan Lewis, Professor of Economic Psychology, University of Bath

• 1. Understanding the Impact of Consumer Culture 2. To Have is to Be? Psychological Functions of Material Possessions 3. Consuming Passions? Psychological Motives for Buying Consumer Goods 4. Is this as Good as it Gets? Materialistic Values and Well-Being 5. I Shop Therefore I Am? Compulsive Buying and Identity-Seeking 6. Does Size Matter? The Impact of Ultra-Thin Media Models on Women's Body Image and on Advertising Effectiveness 7. Think 'Ideal' and Feel Bad? Using Self-Discrepancies to Understand Negative Media Effects 8. What is Beautiful and Who is 'Cool'? Consumer Culture and Socialisation 9. What is the Price of Consumer Culture? Consequences, Implications, and the Cage Within.

Helga Dittmar, D.Phil, is Reader in Psychology at the University of Sussex in England, where she completed her undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, after beginning her studies in psychology at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. Her research focuses on mass consumer society and how this has an impact on people’s sense of who they are and their well-being. Her work has received strong media interest (TV, radio) and includes: psychological functions of material possessions, buying motivations, compulsive buying, materialism, as well as the influence of the mass media on the body image of girls, women and men.

'Helga Dittmar produces irrefutable research evidence of the pernicious effects of the culturally reinforced belief; to be more, one has to have more, whether it’s shoes, bags, cameras, cars, thinness, or muscles.' – April Lane Benson, Ph.D. Founder, Stopping Overshopping, LLC and Co-founder of the Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia'Helga Dittmar is an internationally recognised expert on the social psychology of consumption and its relationship to identity and well being. Her accessible prose style and her convincing use of experimental evidence, much of which has been collected by Helga and her research colleagues, culminates in a message that needs to be heard.' – Alan Lewis, Professor of Economic Psychology, University of Bath

• 1. Understanding the Impact of Consumer Culture 2. To Have is to Be? Psychological Functions of Material Possessions 3. Consuming Passions? Psychological Motives for Buying Consumer Goods 4. Is this as Good as it Gets? Materialistic Values and Well-Being 5. I Shop Therefore I Am? Compulsive Buying and Identity-Seeking 6. Does Size Matter? The Impact of Ultra-Thin Media Models on Women's Body Image and on Advertising Effectiveness 7. Think 'Ideal' and Feel Bad? Using Self-Discrepancies to Understand Negative Media Effects 8. What is Beautiful and Who is 'Cool'? Consumer Culture and Socialisation 9. What is the Price of Consumer Culture? Consequences, Implications, and the Cage Within.