Health psychology, women's health, judgment and decision making, persuasion, risk perception, individual differences.
Current Research
Dr. Gerend's research uses social psychological theories to understand why people engage in health-protective and 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.
Publications
Selected Publications
Gerend, M. A., & Shepherd, J. E. (in press). Predicting HPV vaccine uptake in young adult women: Comparing the Health Belief Model and Theory of Planned Behavior. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Gerend, M. A., Shepherd, M. A., & Shepherd, J. E. (2011, November 7). The multidimensional nature of perceived barriers: Global versus practical barriers to HPV vaccination. Health Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0026248
Gerend, M. A., & Maner, J. K. (2011). Fear, anger, fruits, and veggies: Interactive effects of emotion and message framing on health behavior. Health Psychology, 30, 420-423.
Gerend, M. A., & Sias, T. (2009). Message framing and color priming: How subtle threat cues affect persuasion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 999-1002.
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. (2007). Using message framing to promote acceptance of the human papillomavirus vaccine. Health Psychology, 26, 745-752.
