Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Jason T. Siegel co-edited a special issue of the journal Motivation Science on psychological reactance theory. The special issue, which includes an introduction by Drs. Rosenberg and Siegel (see below) and nine other articles, adds to the ever-growing body of literature on reactance and its applications to understanding and explaining human behavior. 

As part of the Motivation Science special issue on psychological reactance, Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Siegel published an introduction and overview of the theory and research in the volume.  The paper summarizes the contributions of the nine papers in the special issue, placing them in each of the five overlapping waves of reactance research. 

HAM Lab held a lovely celebration to cap off another amazing year. Three incredible HAM Lab RAs graduated in May – Chris, Kaylee, and Sarah. I am so proud of all of you and also very sad to see you go! 

HAM Lab member Chris Falco, MA, a PhD student at Claremont Graduate University, served as lead author on a chapter in the newly released Handbook of Mental Health Communication. Dr. Rosenberg was second author, but didn't do much 😀. The edited book is here.

Along with three Dominican University of California collaborators, Dr. Rosenberg published a paper examining several in-class, co-curricular interventions for student resilience. The paper is here.

Collaborating with two other researchers – one from Chapman University and a PhD student at University of Denver – Dr. Rosenberg coauthored a study on Californians' perceptions of homelessness. The paper is here.

Dr. Rosenberg penned an article in Eye on Psi Chi, the magazine of the international honor society in psychology, on his approach to mentoring undergraduate students in research. What an honor to be invited to write this!

On behalf of the entire HAM Lab, Jillian presented a poster from our newest line of research on goal disruption theory at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Denver. The poster summarized initial findings from our examination of the qualitative content of people's goals and goal impediments. 

Along with Dr. Jason T. Siegel, of Claremont Graduate University, Dr. Rosenberg published a paper in the journal Motivation Science. The study, on the reactive spiral, outlines a process whereby people experience an autonomy threat and, before they can restore freedom, another threat hits them. The result is that reactance is magnified! The paper is here.

Dr. Rosenberg was interviewed on NPR's Hidden Brain podcast by host Shankar Vedantam. The entire episode was about psychological reactance – its origins, effects, and the research behind it. Dr. Rosenberg also shared several personal stories of his own reactance. 

Along with three collaborators, Dr. Rosenberg organized, chaired, and presented a symposium on vaccine hesitancy – specifically with a focus on COVID-19 at the annual Association for Psychological Science convention in San Francisco. The panel was titled, "COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from multiple perspectives, methods, and countries."

Drs. Rosenberg and Siegel presented on the state of the field of psychological reactance theory at SPSP in San Diego. The roundtable, which focused on future directions for research on the theory, was titled "Psychological Reactance Theory: The history, the innovations, the next steps."

For the third time, Kristen Sze of ABC7 News interviewed Dr. Rosenberg about the COVID pandemic. In this live interview, Dr. Rosenberg discussed the Scientific American piece about increasing booster uptake using the IIFF Model.

Dr. Rosenberg wrote an opinion piece that appeared in Scientific American, with co-authors Dr. Jason T. Siegel and Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, on using the IIFF Model to inspire "passive positives" to get the new COVID vaccine. 

Along with an international team of scholars from Canada, China, and the UK, Dr. Rosenberg co-authored an in-press article in Journal of Managerial Psychology on the roles of reflexivity, thriving at work and employees’ work-to-family enrichment (i.e., the positive spillover of workplace behaviors to family life). 

Dr. Rosenberg was interviewed for a piece in Medium about psychological reactance theory.  The article addressed reactance in kids, in response to the pandemic, and connections with other behavioral science research. 

Along with three other Dominican University faculty and two Claremont Graduate University students, Dr. Rosenberg published a paper in Social and Personality Psychology Compass . The study, a qualitative investigation of 18 vaccine-hesitant people, showed that rationalization; identity, beliefs and potential modifiers; emotional responses; and information sources are some of the drivers of vaccine reluctance.

Elana and Chris presented a poster on behalf of the entire lab at the annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association in Riverside, CA. The poster illustrated the results of a pilot study examining the effect of elevation, a moral positive emotion, on reactance arousal.  

Dr. Rosenberg co-authored a piece on the substack blog of Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, aka Your Local Epidemiologist, discussing how cognitive biases affect people's memories of big events – like pandemics and mass shootings. The crux of the article is that, hopefully, by acknowledging these biases in thinking, officials will act more swiftly to address the impact of catastrophic events.

Dr. Rosenberg appeared as a guest on Opinion Science, the podcast of Dr. Andy Luttrell, a social psychologist at Ball State University.  Dr. Rosenberg discussed research on psychological reactance theory, fun research article names, and telling little kids not to eat too many cookies!

Dr. Rosenberg presented on two topics at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Atlanta Georgia February 22-25. The first is a poster presentation at the Motivation Science preconference about the HAM Lab's work on elevation and psychological reactance. The second is a professional development session chaired by Dominican colleague Dr. Sarah Lee on using mindfulness practices to increase resilience in the college classroom.

Chronicle reporter Claire Haor interviewed Dr. Rosenberg for an article on COVID fatigue – even in the highly cooperative Bay Area. The article quoted Dr. Rosenberg talking about people's limited self-regulation after 3+ years of mitigation behavior, as well as the need to capitalize on "fleeting" motivation to get boosted.

Guardian writer Matthew Cantor interviewed Dr. Rosenberg for an article on the ongoing "tripledemic" – COVID, the flu, and RSV – and the role of masking. Dr. Rosenberg discussed the role of softened messages, as opposed to mandates, in encouraging mask-wearing at this juncture.

KCBS reporter Jeffrey Schaub interviewed Dr. Rosenberg for a brief radio segment on the lackluster uptake of COVID booster shots. "It takes place in an urgent care center, or a pharmacy – somewhere that folks visit quite often," said Rosenberg. "It's all about providing people with an opportunity right then and there."

A longer version of the Marin IJ piece by Drs. Rosenberg and Siegel appeared in a recent newsletter from Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, aka Your Local Epidemiologist, outlining how to use the IIFF Model to raise lagging bivalent booster rates. The extra eyes on this work will hopefully raise the profile of social scientists in fighting the ongoing waves of the COVID pandemic. 

For the second time, Kristen Sze of ABC7 News interviewed Dr. Rosenberg about the COVID pandemic. Luckily, in this live interview, no cat showed up – but Dr. Rosenberg discussed the Marin IJ piece about increasing booster uptake using the IIFF Model.

Dr. Rosenberg authored an op-ed piece in the Marin Independent Journal using an approach from the research of Dr. Jason T. Siegel, his coauthor, to outline an evidence-based campaign for persuading people to get bivalent COVID-19 booster shots. The approach, an homage to the IIFF model, relies on the assumption that folks who have received two, three, or four jabs already are willing – but not necessarily motivated – to get another.

A long awaited chapter, coauthored by Dr. Rosenberg and two colleagues from Claremont Graduate University (Alex Marshburn, MA and Jason T. Siegel, Ph.D.), came out this month! The chapter, published in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology, traces the development of the field of persuasive communication through the lens of Hovland and colleagues' (1953) seminal text.

This semester, we are welcoming two new Psychology majors into HAM Lab! Julia Dyer joins us as a transfer student from the Sierra foothills. In addition to psychology, Julia loves the outdoors. Also joining us is Caitlyn Perales, a sophomore who plays on the DUC softball team. Welcome Julia and Caitlyn!

One of the HAM Lab's initiatives this summer will be building up our presence on social media, including a new Twitter account: @Health_Mot_Lab. Look out for lab updates, cool new papers, and other fun (read: nerdy) stuff. Give us a follow!

On April 29, Tess very successfully defended her dissertation to become Dr. Tess Buckley, with a Ph.D. in Health Communication from the illustrious Chapman University. Drs. Sophie Janicke-Bowles, Keith Weber, Michelle Miller-Day, and Rosenberg presided over the festivities. Congrats, Dr. Buckley!

A few members of the HAM Lab team – Criselle, Elana, and Dr. Rosenberg – spent several days in Portland, OR at the annual conference of the Western Psychological Association. Our research, which is still in progress, was well received, plus the poster looked awesome!

Shelby, Catherine, Criselle,  Elana, Tess, and Dr. Rosenberg were accepted to present a poster at the annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association in Portland, OR in April 2022. The poster is titled, "Psychological Reactance Theory: Expanding Outcomes". Go team!

A piece in the LA Times about the removal of California mask mandates quoted Dr. Rosenberg. In part, the article read, "The path through endemicity isn’t all negative. That research just presented by Rosenberg was focused on what happens when you hit anti-maskers with “soft” messaging instead of mandates. Turns out that feels a bit like freedom to them, Rosenberg said, cutting down on the 'super-duper resistance.'”

Dr. Rosenberg was selected to give a 10-minute presentation during the preconference meeting for Motivation Science prior to the annual Society for Personality and Social Psychology conference in San Francisco, CA. The talk will cover three new studies focused on advances in psychological reactance theory.

Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Siegel were invited to host a Free-Form Friday session for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology on psychological reactance theory. The informal session was a combination of review of the research and discussion about future directions for the theory.

In response to Dr. Rosenberg's op-ed in the Chronicle, ABC7 news interviewed him on a segment titled, "Getting Answers." The segment featured questions about pandemic behavior and how to persuade people to comply with public health directives. Dr. Rosenberg's cat, Athena, also made an appearance.

On September 28, Dr. Rosenberg published an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle on pandemic rebellion. The article used psychological reactance theory and persuasion principles to help explain some people's continued reluctance to get vaccinated or wear a mask.

In collaboration with Dr. Jason T. Siegel of Claremont Graduate University, Dr. Rosenberg recently published an article on uncertainty and psychological reactance (Rosenberg & Siegel, 2021, Current Psychology). A summary and application of this piece just appeared on the website of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. The blog post is titled, "You can't tell me what to do! Or maybe you can."

Along with Dr. Vincent Berardi and several Chapman University undergraduates, Dr. Rosenberg coauthored a piece that was recently published online in the Journal of American College Health. The paper, titled "Stair versus elevator use in a university residence hall setting," examined the validity of a smart pressure mat as a measure of pedestrian foot traffic. 

Dr. Rosenberg recently authored an invited blog post for the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology. The post, titled "Freedom, Covid-19, and resistance to public health orders" examines people's reactions to Covid-related public health restrictions through the lens  of psychological reactance theory. 

Beginning this summer, we are starting a new collaboration with Dr. Richard Lopez and his REACH Lab, based at Bard College; and Dr. Jason T. Siegel of Claremont Graduate University.  The focus of this research will be on expectation disruption theory (EDT; formerly known as GDT, see Rosenberg & Siegel, 2015). More details to come!

A new paper, coauthored by Dr. Jason T. Siegel and Dr. Rosenberg, was just published online in the journal Current Psychology. The article, titled, "Threatening uncertainty and psychological reactance: are freedom threats always noxious?" examines the influence of uncertainty on people's reactions to freedom-threatening messages. A main takeaway: people in a state of uncertainty experience less psychological reactance than those in a state of certainty.