Social Psychology Faculty

Student applicants to the social psychology doctoral program:

I will be accepting new graduate students for the Fall 2010 semester.

Health psychology, women's health, judgment and decision making, persuasion, risk perception, individual differences.

Dr. Gerend's research focuses on using social psychological theories to understand why people engage in health-protective versus risky health behaviors. She is also interested in how people's attitudes and beliefs influence the decisions they make about their health. Her current research is aimed at identifying effective communication strategies for motivating health behavior.

Gerend, M. A., & Sias, T. (in press). Message framing and color priming: How subtle threat cues affect persuasion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Gerend, M. A. (2009). Does calorie information promote lower calorie fast food choices among college students? Journal of Adolescent Health, 44, 84-86.

Gerend, M. A., & Pai, M. (2008). Social determinants of Black-White disparities in breast cancer mortality: A review. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 17, 2913–2923

Gerend, M. A., & Cullen, M. (2008). Using message framing and temporal context to reduce college student drinking behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1167-1173.

Gerend, M. A., Shepherd, J. E., & Monday, K. A. (2008). Behavioral frequency moderates the effects of message framing on HPV vaccine acceptability. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 35, 221-229.

Gerend, M. A., & Shepherd, J. E. (2007). Using message framing to promote acceptance of the human papillomavirus vaccine. Health Psychology, 26, 745-752.