Date: August 21, 2008 (Thursday)
Time: 12:30 – 14:00 (sandwich lunch from 12:30 –12:45; seminar begins at 12:45)
Venue: Seminar Room 6, Room LLG-S6, LG1/F, Laboratory Block, Faculty of Medicine Building, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Abstract:
Numerous psychological models of persuasion have been used with varying degrees of success in an effort to impact health-related attitudes and behaviors. Recent evidence suggests that cognitive dissonance theory may be a useful framework for promoting effective changes in desired attitudes and behaviors. Cognitive dissonance theory posits that individuals are motivated to alter their beliefs when they experience discrepancies between two attitudes or between attitudes and behavior because this creates a state of psychological discomfort. This presentation will review the background and theoretical rationale for dissonance-based approaches and present specific dissonance-induction techniques, along with strategies that can maximize the outcome of these techniques. Recent research has supported the efficacy of dissonance-induction procedures for a variety of health-related outcomes, including eating disorders, cigarette smoking, substance use, dating aggression, dietary and physical activity habits, and safe sex practices, and suggests that this approach can be successfully employed to address a diverse range of outcomes.

Bio-sketch:
Dr. Presnell completed her training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Texas at Austin, and Duke University Medical Center. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, and Director of the Weight and Eating Disorders Research Program at SMU. Her programme of research focuses on identifying risk factors for eating disorders and obesity, and the application of this research to the development of prevention programs that reduce risk for these disorders and facilitate long-term healthy weight management. She co-authored the facilitator manual and participant workbook for The Body Project, a dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program, and has extensive experience both in conducting the dissonance intervention and in training providers to deliver this intervention. Recently, she has begun investigating methods of dissemination as a means of increasing the availability of effective, empirically-supported interventions to reduce the incidence of public health problems, such as eating disorders and obesity. Her research has been recognized by several organizations in the US, including the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Presentation file