Psychology

Profile

Background

I joined the Department as a lecturer in September 2008. I graduated from the University of Exeter with a BA (Hons) degree in Psychology (1995) and an MSc in Economic Psychology (1998). After completing my PhD in Social Psychology at the University of St. Andrews (2004), I returned to Exeter where I worked as a post-doctoral research/teaching fellow until taking up my current post here at Portsmouth.

Teaching

I co-ordinate and teach social psychology (Level 2). I am also Year 3 tutor and supervise various projects in the areas of social and economic psychology. 

Research Interests:

My research interests span a number of areas in social psychology and economic psychology. In particular, I am interested in the social psychology of money, materialism and ‘rational choice’; identity construction and economic practices (e.g., money in intimate relationships, gender and household money management practices); research methodology (especially qualitative approaches). I also have an interest in the social psychological processes that relate to understanding national identity and its dynamics.

Indicative Publications

Sonnenberg, S., Burgoyne, C.B. & Routh, D.A. (under review). Income Disparity and Norms Relating to Intra-Household Financial Organisation: Some Experimental Evidence from the UK. Journal of Socio-Economics

Allen, M., Bromley, A., Kuyken, W. & Sonnenberg, S.J. (2009). Participants’ Experiences of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: “It Changed Me in Just about Every Way Possible. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 37, 413-430

Burgoyne, C.B. & Sonnenberg, S.J. Financial Practices in Cohabiting Heterosexual Couples: A Perspective From Economic Psychology (2009). In Miles, J. & Probert, R. Sharing Lives, Dividing Assets: An Interdisciplinary Study. Hart Publishing: Oxford

Sonnenberg, S.J. (2008). Household Financial Organisation and Discursive Practice: Managing Money and Identity. Journal of Socio-Economics, 37, 533-551

Conference Presentations

Morton, T.A. & Sonnenberg, S.J.  “When history constrains identity: Expressing the self to others against the backdrop of a problematic past”,  British Psychological Society Social Section Annual Conference, Sheffield, 15th – 17th September 2009

Morton, T.A. & Sonnenberg, S. (2009). “Negotiating the past: When history constrains identity”, 39th Annual Meeting of the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists, Melbourne, Australia, 16th – 19th April 2009

Loibl, C. & Sonnenberg, S.J. “You got to give to get: The role of incentives in low income women’s transition to homeownership”, Joint conference of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology (IAREP) and the Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 7th – 11th July 2009

Burgoyne, C.B. & Sonnenberg, S.J. “Financial Practices in Heterosexual Cohabiting Couples: Assumptions and Evidence”, Socio-Legal Group Seminar: “Money, Property, Relationships and Separation”, Trinity College Cambridge, 7th – 8th April 2008

Burgoyne, C.B., Barlow, A., Smithson, J., Sonnenberg, S.J. & Ashby, K. “Money Management in Cohabiting Relationships: Expectations and Reality”. Nuffield Foundation Seminar: “The Common Law Marriage Myth and Cohabitation Law Reform Revisited”, London, 28th January 2008

Sonnenberg, S.J. & Burgoyne, C.B. “Financial Practices in ‘Non-Traditional’ Heterosexual Couples”. XXXII Annual Colloquium on Research in Economic Psychology, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 9th – 12th September 2007

Burgoyne, C.B., Sonnenberg, S.J. & Routh, D.A. “Values and the intra-household economy: the impact of individual differences in materialism on household money management.”. XXXII Annual Colloquium on Research in Economic Psychology, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 9th – 12th September 2007

Burgoyne, C.B., Sonnenberg, S.J. & Routh, D.A. “Materialism, Couple Relationships and Household Money Management”. BPS Social Psychology Section Conference, Canterbury, Kent, 5th – 7th September 2007

Sonnenberg, S. “Attitudes to money: Towards an identity-based perspective”. Paper presented at XXXI Annual Colloquium on Research in Economic Psychology, Paris, France, 5th – 8th July 2006

Routh, D.A., Burgoyne, C.B. & Sonnenberg, S.J. “Money and Materialism”. Paper presented at XXXI Annual Colloquium on Research in Economic Psychology, Paris, France, 5th – 8th July 2006

Sonnenberg, S. “Managing Money and Identity: Household Financial Organisation and Discursive Practice”. Invited speaker at ESRC-funded workshop on “Family Finances”, Exeter, 30th June 2006

Sonnenberg, S., Burgoyne, C.G. & Routh, D.A. “Managing Family Finances”. Paper presented at the 5th Meeting of the International Academy of Family Psychology, Cardiff, Wales, 10th – 13th June 2006

Sonnenberg, S., Burgoyne, C.B. & Routh, D.A. “Income Disparity and Choice of Financial Organisation in the Household”. Paper presented at XXX Annual Colloquium on Research in Economic Psychology, Prague, Czech Republic, 21st – 24th September 2005

Sonnenberg, S. “Money & Identity: A multi-method approach to questions in Economic Psychology”. School of Psychology, University of Exeter, February 2004

Sonnenberg, S. & Reicher, S. D. “Towards a Social Psychology of Money and Its Usage”. Invited speaker at symposium on “New issues in the social psychology of consumer and economic behaviour: Identity processes, well-being and welfare”, BPS Social Psychology Section Conference, London, 10th-12th September 2003

Sonnenberg, S. & Reicher, S.D. “Bad boys up against the good guys: Constructions of Identity and Power in a Prisoner’s Dilemma-Type Context”. Poster presented at the XXVII Annual Colloquium on Research in Economic Psychology, Turku, Finland, 30th June – 4th July 2002

Grants

2008 – 2009 British Academy Grant (£7,155), with Drs. I.H. Gleibs, C. Haslam & J. Jones for a project entitled “The benefit of group memberships for well-being among older adults in care”

2006 – 2008 ESRC Small Grant (£47,293), with Dr. C.B. Burgoyne & Prof. A. Barlow for a project entitled “Financial Management Practices in Non-Traditional Heterosexual Couples”

2005 – 2006 ESRC Post-doctoral Fellowship Award for a project entitled “A Social Identity Approach to Economic Psychology”

1999 – 2002 ESRC PhD Scholarship