Biography
I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at the National University of Distance Education (Spain). Much of my research activity has involved the development of paradigms for the experimental manipulation of the perception of economic inequality and social mobility. I have worked in prevention and intervention in the field of drug dependence and I am a founding member of the association PSICABIS, dedicated to the implementation and evaluation of social intervention projects based on scientific evidence.
Main interests
- Status anxiety as a consequence of economic inequality.
- The relationship between ideological orientation, perceived social mobility, and status anxiety.
- Cross-cultural studies on status anxiety.
- Perception, interpretation, and tolerance of economic inequality.
- Class identity and class consciousness.
- Classism.
- Antecedents and consequences of social alienation.
- Identity processes on social media.
Contact
Training and professional career
2024
Postdoctoral Researcher
National University of Distance Education (Spain)
2023
Postdoctoral Researcher
Jagiellonian University (Krakow)
2021
Postdoctoral Researcher
Universidad de Granada
2021
PhD in Psychology
Universidad de Granada
2014
Master's Degree in Psychology of Social Intervention
Universidad de Granada
2012
Degree in Psychology
Universidad de Granada
Publications
2024
Melita, D., Alcañiz‐Colomer, J., Matamoros‐Lima, J., Ríos, S. A., & Moya, M. (2024). Socioeconomic status self‐deception as a way to perpetuate classist societies. Political Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.13051
García-Sánchez, E., Matamoros-Lima, J., Moreno-Bella, E., Melita, D., Sánchez-Rodríguez, A., García-Castro, J. D., Rodríguez-Bailón, R. & Willis, G. (2024). Perceived economic inequality is negatively associated with subjective well-being through status anxiety and social trust. Social Indicators Research, 172, 239-260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-024-03306-x
2023
2021
Melita, D., Willis, G. B., & Rodríguez-Bailón, R. (2021). Economic inequality increases status anxiety through perceived contextual competitiveness. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 637365.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637365
2020
Melita, D., Velandia-Morales, A., Iruela-Toro, D., Willis, G. B., & Rodríguez-Bailón, R. (2020). Spanish version of the Status Anxiety Scale (Versión española de la Escala de Ansiedad por el Estatus). International Journal of Social Psychology, 35(2), 342-369.https://doi.org/10.1080/02134748.2020.1721050