My name is John Christensen and I completed my PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Southern California where I was awarded a pre-doctoral fellowship from the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program. I have completed research training programs at the National Cancer Institute, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Institute for Creative Technologies, and the RAND Corporation. I have also served as a research consultant for CHI Systems and the Air Force Research Laboratory. My research focuses on changing attitudes, emotions, and behavior through the use of interactive media. Along with colleagues at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, I built a virtual nightclub designed to prevent risky alcohol, drug, and sexual decisions among late adolescents (NIAID; Miller). Players encounter a series of challenging decision-points as they interact with artificially intelligent agents whose behavior is driven by computational models of health communication. In another line of work, I collaborated with Exeter Media to develop a web-based virtual grocery store that communicates the risks of an unhealthy diet while providing players with an opportunity to practice making healthier food purchase decisions. I also conduct research investigating message framing, message tailoring, LGBT health disparities, and the roles of emotion and individual difference constructs in persuasive communication.
Primary Interests:
Applied Social Psychology
Attitudes and Beliefs
Communication, Language
Culture and Ethnicity
Emotion, Mood, Affect
Health Psychology
Internet and Virtual Psychology
Judgment and Decision Making
Personality, Individual Differences
Persuasion, Social Influence
Self and Identity
Sexuality, Sexual Orientation
Applied Social Psychology
Attitudes and Beliefs
Communication, Language
Culture and Ethnicity
Emotion, Mood, Affect
Health Psychology
Internet and Virtual Psychology
Judgment and Decision Making
Personality, Individual Differences
Persuasion, Social Influence
Self and Identity
Sexuality, Sexual Orientation
Journal Articles:
Hong, H., Neamati, N., Winslow, H., Christensen, J. L., Orr, A., Pommier, Y., & Milne, G. (1998). Identification of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors based on a four-point pharmacophore. Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy, 9(6), 461-472.
Neamati, N., Hong, H., Owen, J., Sunder, S., Winslow, H., Christensen, J. L. et al. (1998). Salicylhydrazine-containing inhibitors of HIV-1: Implication for a selective chelation in the integrase active site. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 41(17), 3202-3209.
Neamati, N., Turpin, J., Winslow, H., Christensen, J. L., Williamson, K., & Orr, A. et al. (1999). Thiazolothiazepine inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 42(17), 3334-3341.
Other Publications:
Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Godoy, C. G., Si, M., Corsbie-Massay, C., Read, S. J., Marsella, S., Anderson, A. N., & Klatt, J. (2012). Virtual interactive interventions for reducing risky sex: Adaptations, integrations, innovations. In S. M. Noar & N. G. Harrington (Eds.), eHealth applications: Promising strategies for behavior change. New York: Routledge.
Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (2009). Reducing risky decision-making in the virtual and in the real-world: Serious games, intelligent agents, and a SOLVE approach. In U. Ritterfeld, M. Cody, & P. Vorderer (Eds.), Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects. New York: Routledge.
Miller, L. C., Marsella, S., Dey, T., Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Klatt, J., Read, S. J. (2011). Socially Optimized Learning in Virtual Environments (SOLVE). In M. Si, D. Thue, E. Andre, J. Lester, J. Tanenbaum, & V. Zammitto (Eds.), Interactive Storytelling. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
Read, S. J., Miller, L. C., Kostygina, A., Chopra, G., Christensen, J. L., Corsbie-Massay, C., Zachary, W., LeMentec, J. C., Iordanov, V., & Rosoff, A. (2008). The Personality-Enabled Architecture for Cognition (PAC). In I. Horswill, E. Hudlicka, C. Lisetti, & J. D. Velasquez (Eds.), Emotion, Personality, and Social Behavior. Cambridge, MA: AAAI Press/MIT Press.
Courses Taught:
Health Communication in the Digital Age
Health Communication in the Digital Age
John Christensen Annenberg School for Communication
University of Pennsylvania
3620 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104 United States
Last edited by profile holder: April 20, 2012
Visits since September 7, 2011: 1,097
