John Updegraff
- Media Contact
- SPN Mentor
My research falls into three main categories:
Health communication, persuasion and health behavior change. One aim of my research is to discover efficient, effective ways to tailor health behavior change communications to characteristics known about the recipient - such as their health status, perceived risk for health conditions, and motivational orientations. Much of my research examines the effects of health message framing - that is, communicating the consequences of a health behavior in terms of either the benefits associated with changing it or the risks associated with not changing it. My research, currently funded by the National Cancer Institute, identifies the conditions under which each frame is maximally effective in persuading people to make positive changes in their health behavior.
How expectations, motivations, and self-concept influence reactions to everyday experiences. Why do different people respond so differently to everyday uplifts and hassles? People's responses to everyday events shape their overall levels of happiness and well-being, so we seek to understand how self-related processes such as expectations, motivations, self-concept and social comparison influence how people respond to everyday events and self-relevant feedback. I utilize a number of methodologies to answer these questions, such as palm-pilot based experience sampling methods, experimentation, and surveys.
The role of positive psychological states - such as stress-related growth and finding meaning - in coping with stress. When people confront major stressful events, their responses range from the negative (e.g., depression, PTSD) to the positive, such as reporting posttraumatic growth, positive emotion, and increased meaning in life. I'm interested in understanding what predicts these positive responses and what effects do these seemingly ironic consequences of stress play in the adjustment process? I have examined these questions in studies of people coping with HIV, violence, and exposure to terrorism.
Primary Interests:
- Applied Social Psychology
- Attitudes and Beliefs
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Health Psychology
- Life Satisfaction, Well-Being
- Motivation, Goal Setting
- Persuasion, Social Influence
- Self and Identity
Research Group or Laboratory:
Books:
Journal Articles:
- Emanuel, A. S., Updegraff, J. A., Kalmbach, D. A., & Ciesla, J. A. (2010). The role of mindfulness facets in affective forecasting. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 815-818.
- Gallagher, K. M., & Updegraff, J. A. (2012). Health message framing effects on attitudes, intentions, and behavior: A meta-analytic review. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 43, 101-116.
- Gallagher, K. M., & Updegraff, J. A. (2011). When “fit” leads to fit and when “fit” leads to fat: How message framing and intrinsic v. extrinsic exercise outcomes interact in promoting physical activity. Psychology and Health, 26, 819-834.
- Gallagher, K. M., Updegraff, J. A., Rothman, A. J., & Sims, L. (2011). Perceived susceptibility to breast cancer moderates the effect of gain- and loss-framed messages on use of screening mammography. Health Psychology, 30, 145-152.
- Hill, C. L., & Updegraff, J. A. (2012). Mindfulness and its relationship to emotional regulation. Emotion, 21, 81-90.
- Mann, T. L., Sherman, D. S., & Updegraff, J. A. (2004). Dispositional motivations and message framing: A test of the congruency hypothesis in college students. Health Psychology, 23, 330-334.
- Sherman, D. K., Mann, T., & Updegraff, J. A. (2006). Approach/avoidance motivation, message framing, and health behavior: Understanding the congruency effect. Motivation and Emotion, 30, 165-169.
- Sherman, D. K., Updegraff, J. A., & Mann, T. L. (2008). Improving oral health behavior: A social psychological approach. Journal of the American Dental Association, 139, 1382-1387.
- Taylor, S. E., Klein, L. C., Lewis, B. L., Gruenewald, T. L., Gurung, R. A. R., & Updegraff, J. A. (2000). Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychological Review, 107, 411-429.
- Updegraff, J. A., Emanuel, A. S., Gallagher, K. M., & Steinman, C. (2011). Framing flu prevention - An experimental field test of signs promoting hand hygiene during the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic. Health Psychology, 30, 295-299.
- Updegraff, J. A., Emanuel, A. S., Suh, E. M., & Gallagher, K. M. (2010). Sheltering the self from the storm: Self-construal abstractness and the stability of self-esteem. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 97-108.
- Updegraff, J. A., Gable, S. L., & Taylor, S. E. (2004). What makes experiences satisfying? The interaction of approach-avoidance motivations and emotions in well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 496-504.
- Updegraff, J. A., & Marshall, G. N. (2005). Predictors of perceived growth following direct exposure to community violence. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 538-560.
- Updegraff, J. A., Sherman, D. K., Luyster, F. S., & Mann, T. L. (2007). Understanding how tailored communications work: The effects of message quality and congruency on perceptions of health messages. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 248-256.
- Updegraff, J. A., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2008). Searching for and finding meaning in collective trauma: Results from a national longitudinal study of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 709-722.
- Updegraff, J. A., Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., & Wyatt, G. E. (2002). Positive and negative effects of HIV infection in women with low socioeconomic resources. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 382-394.
Other Publications:
- Rothman, A. J., & Updegraff, J. A. (2010). Specifying when and how gain- and loss-framed messages motivate healthy behavior: An integrated approach. To appear in G. Keren (Ed.), Perspectives on Framing (pp. 257-278). London: Psychology Press / Taylor & Francis.
- Silver, R. C., & Updegraff, J. A. (in press). Searching for and finding meaning following personal and collective traumas. In K. Markman, T. Proulx, and M. Lindberg (Eds.), Psychology of meaning. Washington: American Psychological Association.
- Updegraff, J. A., & Taylor, S. E. (2000). From vulnerability to growth: Positive and negative effects of stressful life events. In J. H. Harvey & E. Miller (Eds.), Loss and trauma: General and close relationship perspectives (pp. 3-28). Philadelphia: Brunner-Routledge.
Courses Taught:
- General Psychology
- Health Psychology
- Social Psychological Perspectives on Well-Being
- Social Psychology (Graduate)
- Phone: (330) 672-4731
- Fax: (330) 672-3786
John Updegraff
Department of Psychological Sciences
321 Kent Hall
Kent State University
Kent, Ohio 44242-0001
United States of America