Erica Hepper

Erica Hepper is Lecturer in Social/Personality Psychology at the University of Surrey, researching self-relevant emotions including nostalgia, self-enhancement biases, and narcissism. She serves as Co-Director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes and Sustainability Fellow at the Institute for Sustainability.

Hepper's work examines how nostalgic recollection enhances wellbeing across cultures and buffers against existential threats. Her narcissism research clarifies empathy deficits through meta-analytic methods, while cross-cultural studies establish nostalgia as a universal emotion with similar psychological functions worldwide. Current projects investigate temporal orientation interventions and body image maintenance strategies.

Publication patterns demonstrate sustained theoretical contributions to nostalgia psychology and methodological innovation in cross-cultural emotion research. Recent work increasingly addresses applications for relationship health and wellbeing promotion.

Dr. Hepper teaches social psychology and personality courses while supervising doctoral candidates in nostalgia and self-psychology. She contributes expertise on psychological dimensions of sustainability behavior.