Dr Jennifer Stead
Personal links
About
Overview
Jennifer received her BA in Psychology and Cultural Anthropology from Millersville University of Pennsylvania in 2010, and an MSc in Cross-Cultural Psychology from Brunel University London in 2013. She completed her PhD in Psychology at City, University of London in 2018. Her doctoral research investigated the role of individual differences in personality, social comparison, and online behaviours in the relationship between Facebook use and subjective well-being. Her thesis won the Best Dissertation on Quality of Life, Well-being, and Happiness Award from the International Society of Quality of Life Studies in 2019. Following her PhD, Jennifer worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Warwick Business School in the Behavioural Science Group researching the mental health and well-being of postgraduate research students.
Jennifer joined the Psychology department at City, University of London in December 2019, and teaches on the MSc in Organisational Psychology. Her research interests include subjective well-being, individual differences, the impact of social media sites on individuals and society, social comparison, cyberpsychology, well-being of university students and academics, and academia as a work-place.
Qualifications
- PhD Psychology, City, University of London, United Kingdom, October 2014 - July 2018
- MSc Cross-Cultural Psychology, Brunel University, United Kingdom, 2012 - September 2013
- BA Psychology and Anthropology, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, United States, August 2006 - May 2010
- Fellow, Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom
Employment
- Lecturer in Organisational Psychology, City, University of London, United Kingdom, December 2019 - present
- Research Fellow, Warwick Business School, United Kingdom, September 2018 - September 2019
Publications
Publications by category
Chapter
- Gerson, J., Mahmood, L. and Zibarras, L. (2023). Research design and evidence-based practice. Organisational Psychology (pp. 200-216). Routledge.
Journal articles (8)
- Tølbøll, K.B., Stead, J. and Plagnol, A.C. (2026). Instagram Passive Active Use Measure (iPAUM): Development, validation and relation to self-esteem. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 20(1). doi:10.5817/cp2026-1-10
- Rad, Y., Prudenzi, A., Zernerova, L., Gerson, J. and Flaxman, P.E. (2025). Effects of workplace acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) programs on psychological flexibility's subprocesses: A systematic review. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 37, pp. 100915-100915. doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2025.100915
- Stead, J., Gracia, L. and Riva, E. (2025). An Investigation Into the Wellbeing and Loneliness of PGR Students and the Effectiveness of Institutional Support Strategies. European Journal of Education, 60(2). doi:10.1111/ejed.70067
- Drouvelis, M., Gerson, J., Powdthavee, N. and Riyanto, Y.E. (2023). Large losses from little lies: Strategic gender misrepresentation and cooperation. PLoS ONE, 18(3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0282335
- Trifiro, B.M. and Gerson, J. (2019). Social Media Usage Patterns: Research Note Regarding the Lack of Universal Validated Measures for Active and Passive Use. Social Media + Society, 5(2). doi:10.1177/2056305119848743
- Gerson, J., Plagnol, A.C. and Corr, P.J. (2017). Dimensionality of the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure and Its Relationship to Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory. Journal of Individual Differences, 38(4), pp. 256-264. doi:10.1027/1614-0001/a000242
- Gerson, J., Plagnol, A.C. and Corr, P.J. (2017). Passive and Active Facebook Use Measure (PAUM): Validation and relationship to the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory. Personality and Individual Differences, 117, pp. 81-90. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.05.034
- Gerson, J., Plagnol, A.C. and Corr, P.J. (2016). Subjective well-being and social media use: Do personality traits moderate the impact of social comparison on Facebook? Computers in Human Behavior, 63, pp. 813-822. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.06.023