Investigator

Contact information:
Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota
75 East River Road
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Office: (612) 625-2573
rothm001@umn.edu

Alex Rothman, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Rothman is a Social Psychologist and received his Doctorate in Psychology from Yale University.

Dr. Rothman’s primary program of research concerns the application of social psychological theory to illness prevention and health promotion and is comprised of a synthesis of basic research on how people process and respond to health information with the development and evaluation of theory-based interventions to promote healthy behavior. He has published a series of articles that examine how people evaluate and process risk-relevant information and has helped to identify the conditions under which people are receptive to information about personal vulnerability. He has also conducted and published several theory-based interventions that test the influence of different forms of persuasive health messages on the performance of a range of health behaviors such as screening mammography and sun screen utilization. In his most recent work, Dr. Rothman has focused on how the relation between people’s health beliefs and health behavior unfolds over time. In particular, he has begun to delineate the different decision processes that guide the initiation and maintenance of long-term self-regulatory behavior, with a particular emphasis on diet, physical activity, and smoking. In recognition of his work, Dr. Rothman received the 2002 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the area of Health Psychology from the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Rothman has served as a reviewer for numerous journals and funding agencies and presently serves as Associate Editor of Health Psychology Review. He also co-directs the National Cancer Institute’s Advanced Training Institute in Health Behavior Theory and serves on the External Consultation Committee for the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Triennial Survey

Selected Recent Publications

1. Hunt JS, Rothmann TL, Rothman AJ, McGorty EK, and Iyer SN. Implicit and explicit associations between social groups and health problems. Psychology & Health. In press.
2. Rothman AJ, Hertel AW, Baldwin AS, and Bartels R. Integrating theory and practice: Understanding the determinants of health behavior change. To appear in J. Shah and W. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of motivation science. Guilford Press: New York, NY. In press.
3. Rothman AJ, Salovey P. The reciprocal relation between principles and practice: Social psychology and health behavior. To appear in A. Kruglanski and E.T. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd Edition). Guilford Press: New York, NY. In press.
4. Baldwin AS, Rothman AJ, Hertel AW, Linde JA, et al. Specifying the Determinants of Behavior Change Initiation and Maintenance: An Examination of Self-Efficacy, Satisfaction, and Smoking Cessation. Health Psychology 2006;25:626-634.
5. Kiviniemi MT, Rothman AJ. Selective memory biases in individuals’ memory for health-related information and behavior recommendations. Psychology and Health 2006;21:247-272.
6. Rothman AJ, Bartels RD, Wlaschin J and Salovey P. The strategic use of gain- and loss-framed messages to promote healthy behavior: How theory can inform practice. Journal of Communication 2006;56:S202-S220.
7. Rothman AJ and Haydon KC. Strategies to Motivate Behavior Change: How Can We Mobilize Adults to Promote Positive Youth Development?. In E.G. Clary and J. Rhodes (Eds.), Mobilizing adults for positive youth development: Promoting socially valued activities (pp. 101-114). Kluwer Academic: New York, NY, 2006.
8. Weinstein ND and Rothman AJ. Revitalizing research on health behavior theories. Health Education Research 2005;20:294-297.
9. Worth K, Sullivan H, Hertel AW, Jeffery RW, and Rothman AJ. Are there times when avoidance goals can be beneficial?: A look at smoking cessation. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 2005;27:107-116.
10. Rothman AJ. Is there nothing more practical than a good theory?: Why Innovations and advances in health behavior change will arise if interventions are more theory-friendly. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2004;1:11.
11. Rothman AJ, Baldwin A, and Hertel A. Self-regulation and behavior change: Disentangling behavioral initiation and behavioral maintenance. In K. Vohs and R. Baumeister (Eds.), The handbook of self-regulation (pp. 130-148). Guilford Press: New York, NY, 2004.
12. Suls J and Rothman AJ. Evolution of the psychosocial model: Implications for the future of health psychology. Health Psychology 2004;23:119-125.
13. Rothman AJ, Kelly KM, Hertel A, and Salovey P. Message frames and illness representations: Implications for interventions to promote and sustain healthy behavior. In L.D. Cameron and H. Leventhal (Eds.), The self-regulation of health and illness behavior (pp. 278-296). London, UK: Routledge, 2003.
14. King CM, Rothman AJ, and Jeffery RW. The challenge study: Theory based interventions for smoking and weight loss. Health Education Research (Special issue: Health Behavior Change Research: Theory Comparison and Multiple Behavior Research from the NIH Behavior Change Consortium) 2002;17:522-530.