Dr Jonathan David
Award for Excellent PhD Thesis in Psychology 

Award type: Science

Dr Jonathan David completed his PhD at Macquarie University in 2023. His research focused on understanding the psychological determinants of compulsive buyingshopping and hoarding disorders. The impact of these disorders is largely overlooked, particularly in our consumer-driven society. During his PhD, he developed new conceptual frameworks that offer a fresh perspective on hoarding phenomena. For example, he developed a theory that links object attachment with the motivations to acquire and save objects. His research has also uncovered that hoarding and panic buying behaviours are empirically distinct, and that object attachment is a multidimensional construct, similar to the dimensionality of interpersonal attachment. By better understanding what leads to hoarding, he sets up a basis for developing novel therapeutic strategies. In tandem, Dr David also developed new self-report questionnaires and interviews to study hoarding behaviours. He developed the 10-item Object Attachment Security Measure (OASM) to assess secure and insecure attachment to objects, and also developed an interview to diagnose compulsive buying-shopping disorder using behavioural addiction criteria. His dedication to augmenting the quality of measures in this area will enhance the reliability and validity of future work in the field. Dr David is now completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at York University (Canada)