Rate My Professor Odette Norton

Dr. Odette Norton is a Lecturer in Psychology in the School of Health - Psychology at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She delivers instruction across multiple undergraduate psychology courses, notably serving as the course coordinator for Physiological Psychology (PSY202). Additional courses she teaches include Cognitive and Perceptual Psychology (PSY301), Human Associative Learning (PSY304), and Introduction to Human Development (PSY203). Norton obtained her Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2019, supervised by Dr. Kate Mulgrew as principal supervisor and Dr. Geoff Lovell. Her PhD thesis, "Psychological and Body Image Correlates of the use of Facial Non-Surgical Injectables," investigated psychological and body image factors related to the use of cosmetic facial procedures.

Norton's research interests include body image, health psychology, and attentional bias. As part of her doctoral research, she conducted the "Face Esteem" study in 2016, recruiting women aged 35 and older to explore views on wrinkles and Botox, as well as psychosocial characteristics distinguishing users or potential users of cosmetic interventions—including Botox, dermal fillers, face lifts, chemical peels, and eyelid tucks—from non-users. Her scholarship includes co-authorship on the peer-reviewed article "The effect of thin and average-sized models on women's appearance and functionality satisfaction: Does pose matter?" published in Body Image in 2020, alongside Kate E. Mulgrew, Kate Schulz, and Marika Tiggemann. This work examines how model size and pose influence women's satisfaction with their appearance and body functionality. Norton is also co-author on papers such as "Does focusing on body functionality protect women from body dissatisfaction when viewing media images?" (2016), "Positive appearance and functionality reflections can improve body satisfaction but do not protect against idealised media exposure" (2017), and "The Effect of Functionality- and Aesthetic-Focused Images on Australian Women’s Body Satisfaction" (2015).