Dr David Giles 

Reader in Media Psychology 

Humanities and Social Sciences 

Email:

David.Giles@winchester.ac.uk 

Phone:

+44 (0)1962 827026 

Fax:

+44 (0)1962 827437 

Address:

Biography

After working for several years as a freelance music journalist for publications such as NME and the Independent, I studied Psychology at the University of Manchester and did a PhD with the University of Bristol looking at children's spelling.

Wondering why there was so little research on the influence of the media on human behaviour, I began to develop the field of media psychology, first of all with some research on fame and celebrity (Giles, 2000) and then focussing on the topic of parasocial interaction (Giles, 2002). Since then I have also explored the framing processes of news media (e.g. Giles & Shaw, 2009) and interaction in online mental health communities (Giles, 2006; Giles & Newbold, in press).

I have an interest in psychological research methods generally, and I set up the journal Qualitative Research in Psychology (Taylor & Francis) with Brendan Gough and Martin Packer, of which the first issue appeared in 2004. Throughout this time I held lecturing posts at the universities of Bolton, Sheffield Hallam, Coventry and Lancaster, before moving to Winchester in 2007, where I was promoted to Reader in 2009.

Teaching responsibilties:

• Personality and Individual Differences (module leader)
• Qualitative Methods in Psychology (module leader, MSc Research Methods in Psychology)
• Abnormal Psychology (module leader)

Expertise

• Media influence on human behaviour
• Media audiences
• Qualitative research methods
• Parasocial interaction
• Online mental health communities
• Fame and celebrity

Publications

Books

Giles, D.C. (2010). Psychology of the media. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Wood, C., Giles, D.C., & Percy, C. (2009). Doing your undergraduate psychology project. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Giles, D.C. (2003). Media psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Giles, D.C. (2002). Advanced research methods in psychology. London: Routledge.

Giles, D.C. (2000). Illusions of immortality: A psychology of fame and celebrity. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Selected journal articles

Giles, D.C., & Newbold, J. (2011). Self- and other-diagnosis in user-led online mental health communities. Qualitative Health Research 21(3), 419-28.

Shaw, R.L., Giles, D.C., & Whitehead, C. (2010). "Crack down on the celebrity junkies": Does media coverage of celebrity drug use pose a risk to young people? Health, Risk and Society 12, 575-89.

Giles, D.C., Shaw, R.L., & Morgan, W. (2009). Representations of voluntary childlessness in the UK press, 1990-2008. Journal of Health Psychology, 14, 1218-28.

Rockwell, D., & Giles, D.C. (2009). Being-in-the-world of celebrity: The phenomenology of fame. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 40, 178-210.

Giles, D.C., & Shaw, R.L. (2009). The psychology of news influence and the development of Media Framing Analysis. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3/4, 375-93.

Shaw, R.L., & Giles, D.C. (2009). Motherhood on ice? A media framing analysis of older mothers in the UK news. Psychology & Health, 24, 221-36.

Maltby, J., Day, L., Giles, D.C., Gillett, R., Quick, M., Langcaster-James, H., & Linley, A.P. (2008). Implicit theories of a desire for fame. British Journal of Psychology, 99, 279-92.

Giles, D.C., & Close, J. (2008). Exposure to ‘lad magazines’ and drive for muscularity in dating and non-dating young men. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1610-16.

Giles, D.C., Pietrzykowski, S., & Clark, K.E. (2007). The psychological meaning of personal record collections and the impact of changing technological forms. Journal of Economic Psychology, 28, 429-43.

Brotsky, S.R., & Giles, D.C. (2007). Inside the “pro-ana” community: A covert online participant observation. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 19, 93-109.

Giles, D.C. (2006). Constructing identities in cyberspace: The case of eating disorders. British Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 463-477.

Maltby, J., Giles, D.C., Barber, L. & McCutcheon, L.E. (2005). Intense-personal celebrity worship and body image: Evidence of a link among female adolescents. British Journal of Health Psychology, 10, 17-32.

Giles, D.C. & Maltby, J. (2004). The role of media in adolescent development: Relations between autonomy, attachment, and interest in celebrities. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 813-22.

Giles, D.C. (2003). Narratives of obesity as presented in the context of a television talk show. Journal of Health Psychology, 8, 317-26.

Giles, D.C. (2002). Keeping the public in their place: Audience participation in lifestyle television programming. Discourse & Society, 13, 603-28.

Giles, D.C. (2002). Parasocial interaction: A review of the literature and a model for future research. Media Psychology, 4, 279-302.

Giles, D.C. (1999). Retrospective accounts of drunken behaviour: Implications for theories of self, memory and the discursive construction of identity. Discourse Studies, 1, 387-403.

Giles, D.C. & Terrell, C.D. (1997). Visual sequential memory and spelling. Educational Psychology 17, 245-54.

Book chapters

Giles, D.C. (2010). Parasocial relationships. In J. Eder, F. Jannidis & R. Schneider (Eds) Characters in fictional worlds: Understanding imaginary beings in literature, film, and other media (pp 442-58). Berlin: De Gruyter.

Rockwell, D., & Giles, D.C. (2008). Ready for the close-up: Celebrity experience and the phenomenology of fame. In: K.R. Hart, (Ed.) Film and Television Stardom (pp 324-41). Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.

Maltby, J., & Giles, D.C. (2008). Toward the measurement and profiling of celebrity worship. In: J.R. Meloy, L. Sheridan & J. Hoffman (Eds), Stalking, threatening, and attacking public figures (pp 271-86). New York: Oxford University Press.

Recent conference presentations

Giles, D.C. (October 2010). Parasocial and human relationships: Testing a six-type model of media figures. Paper presented at ECREA 3rd European Communication Conference, University of Hamburg.

Giles, D.C. (September 2009). The use of media framing analysis to explore representations of voluntary childlessness. Paper presented as part of the symposium ‘Health, Gender and Sexuality: Showcasing methodological diversity’ at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Health Psychology, Aston University.

Giles, D.C. (November 2008). Parasocial interaction: current directions in theory and method. Paper presented as part of the symposium ‘With stars in their eyes: Investigating star-audience relations’, ECREA 2nd European Communication Conference, Barcelona.

Giles, D.C., & Shaw, R.L. (September 2008). Character-based analysis: A method for studying framing processes in news media. Paper presented at the inaugural conference of the BPS section Qualitative Methods in Psychology, University of Leeds.

Giles, D.C., & Close, J. (August 2007). 'Lad magazine' use, drive for muscularity and dating. Paper presented at the annual conference of the European Health Psychology Society, Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Shaw, R.L., & Giles, D.C. (August 2007). A media framing analysis of representations of ageing motherhood. Paper presented at the annual conference of the European Health Psychology Society, Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Research Interests

• Media influence on behaviour, particularly ‘parasocial’ relationships between audiences and media figures (e.g. celebrities);
• ‘Framing’ processes in news media and consequent public understanding of these issues and behaviours;
• The psychology of fame and celebrity;
• Identity, the internet and mental health;
• Musical taste and psychological meanings of music

Funding Awards and Professional Membership

External funding awards:

Shaw, R.L., & Giles, D.C. (2007): Exploring media representations of voluntary childlessness. The British Academy, value: £7131.

Giles, D.C. (2005): “The joy of ownership”: The psychological meaning of personal record collections in the age of the iPod. Coventry University, value: £1986.

Giles, D.C. (2004): Relations between dieting, food beliefs and magical thinking in adolescence. Internally funded project, Coventry University, value: £1750.

Giles, D.C. (2004): The psychology of children and advertising: The next step? Workshop grant, British Council for the Netherlands, UK-Netherlands Partnership Programme in Science, value: £1200.

Giles, D.C. (2003): The construction of identity in “pro-ana” websites. Internally funded project, School of Health and Social Sciences, Coventry University, value: £500.

Giles, D.C. (1999): The role of private living space in the development of self-concept during adolescence. The British Academy, grant no. SG-29795, value: £1796.

Internal funding awards:

Giles, D.C. (2008, September): Identity, mental health and the internet. University of Winchester Research Knowledge Transfer grant, value: £3915.