University Video Description from UT Austin: Those who remember a 1980s George Carlin routine about stuff (cf. YouTube) will have a preview of Sam Goslings research. People, he observes, are deeply connected to their stuff. Some is used to make statements about attitudes and values—such as bumper stickers, yellow ribbons, or Springsteen T-shirts. Some affects what you think about—family photos or an iPod playlist. And some is an inadvertent consequence of everyday life—a messy desk or a forgotten theater ticket in a winter-coat pocket. Each of these things offers clues to your psychological functioning. Gosling will explain how your stuff can show what you’re like, whether its lying around your living room—or your Facebook page.

Sam Gosling, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Psychology – University of Texas at Austin

Sam Gosling has made important contributions to the study of personality in animals (not so long ago, most scientists thought they didnt have any), and to manifestations of human personality in our environments. He is the author of Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You (2008).