John Christensen
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Biography
My name is John Christensen and I am currently a doctoral student in Social Psychology at the University of Southern California, where I received a Bachelors degree, a Masters degree, and will soon receive a PhD. I have held a fellowship with the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program as well as research traineeships from the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the RAND Corporation. My research seeks to strategically optimize the content and source of persuasive messages in an attempt to prevent risky decisions that may threaten one’s future self and the pursuit of related goals. I explore this topic in both health and consumer decision-making contexts, utilizing novel technological methodologies such as virtual reality and artificially intelligent virtual humans. The majority of my research addresses a combination of the following research interests: loss/gain framing effects, temporal distance, self-conscious negative affect, and the tailoring of persuasive appeals to members of LGBT and ethnic minority communities.
Personal Webpage
Fellowships
2006 - 2008
American Psychological Association
Minority Fellowship Program
Awards & Honors
• Minority Travel Scholarship, Society for Prevention Research, 2010
• Meritorious Student Award, Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2010
• Travel Award, USC Office of the Provost for Globalization, 2010
• Diversity Award, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 2008
• Travel Award, Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction, 2007
• Diversity Travel Award, American Psychological Association, 2006
• Travel Grant, USC Graduate and Professional Students Senate, 2005
• Dean’s List, University of Southern California, 1999 – 2003
• Governor’s Academic Citation, State of Maryland, 1998
• Research Achievement Award, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1998
Research Experience
08/2004 – Present
Research Assistant
Socially Optimized Learning in Virtual Environments (SOLVE) Lab
University of Southern California
02/2005 – 08/2008
Research Consultant
Air Force Research Laboratory & CHI Systems, Inc.
“Computational Modeling of Personality in Intelligent Virtual Humans”
01/2003 – 05/2003
Research Assistant
Dr. Paul Robert Appleby
Department of Psychology (Social)
University of Southern California
01/2003 – 05/2003
Research Assistant
Dr. Brian Lickel
Department of Psychology (Social)
University of Southern California
05/1999 – 08/1999
Research Fellow
Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology
National Institutes of Health
06/1997 – 08/1998
Research Fellow
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Previous Research Employment
05/2008 – 09/2008
Summer Associate
The RAND Corporation
05/2003 – 08/2004
Project Specialist
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
Professional Development
2009
Using Technology to Enhance Applied Research
Claremont Graduate University
2009
Applied Quantitative Analysis
Claremont Graduate University
2008
Virtual Humans Toolkit Workshop
Institute for Creative Technologies
2007
Workshop on Games for Learning, Development, & Change
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
Current Projects
(*student mentee)
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., *Hardin, A. S., *Van Kummer, D. (in preparation). “A meta-analytic review of the empirical literature exploring prevention-oriented framing effects.” (data collected)
Christensen, J. L., *Battelle, A., *Cauley, R., *Eliafan, N., *Jackson, S., & *Warren, D. (in preparation). “Consumer responses to green-friendly advertisements emphasizing current vs. future-oriented benefits.” (data collected)
Christensen, J. L., *Bruen, H., *Kwak, E., *Lai, K. L., & *Ozer, H. (in preparation). “Are pro-environmental consumer decisions best motivated by advertisements emphasizing benefits to the self, to the environment, or both? (data collected)
Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., Read, S. J., & Godoy, C. G. (in preparation). “Socially Optimized Learning in Virtual Environments (SOLVE): Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial for Reducing Risky Decision-Making.” (data collected)
Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). “Expecting the worst: The link between risky decision-making, temporal distance, and the perceived probability of feared future selves.” (data collected)
Christensen, J. L., Sanford, C. P., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). “Virtual Self-Regulation: The link between prior risk-taking, self-efficacy, and upstream risk-avoidance decisions.” (data collected)
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P.R., Read, S. J., & Corsbie-Massay, C. (in preparation). “Guilty Pleasures: How guilt following virtual risk-taking predicts change in subsequent behavior.” (data collected)
Talevich, J., Christensen, J. L., Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). “Inside Outside: The relationship between immersive tendencies and sense of presence in changing risky behavior via virtual environments.” (data collected)
Godoy, C., Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., & Read, S. J. (in preparation). “Using Virtual Environments to Unobtrusively Measure Real-Life Risk-Taking: Findings and Implications for Health Communication Interventions.” (data collected)
Published Manuscripts
Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (2008). 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. Routledge/LEA Press.
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, and J. D. Velasquez, (Eds.) Emotion, Personality, and Social Behavior. Cambridge, MA: AAAI Press/MIT Press.
Read, S. J., Miller, L. C., Kostygina, A., Chopra, G., Christensen, J. L., Corsbie-Massay, C., Zachary, W., LeMentec, J., Iordanof, V., Rosoff, A. (2007). The Personality-enabled Architecture for Cognition (PAC). Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction. New York: Springer.
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 integrase: 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.
Peer-Reviewed Published Proceedings
Christensen, J. L., *Sanford, C. P., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., & Read, S. J. (2010). Negotiate condoms now or delay: What virtual self-regulatory choices in the present may tell us about self-efficacy and risk-taking in the past. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 39, s17.
Christensen, J. L., *Sanford, C. P., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., & Read, S. J. (2010). Condom negotiation may be easier on-line than off. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 39, s86.
Wiswell, A. S.*, Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., & Read, S. J. (2010). Demographic and negative affective predictors of attrition in a longitudinal HIV-prevention intervention. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 39, s216. (This submission was recognized as a Meritorious Student Paper)
Appleby, P. R., Anderson, A. N., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (2010). Relationship interdependency: Predicting protection for MSM in primary relationships. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 39, s87.
Appleby, P. R., Briano, M., Christensen, J. L., Anderson, A. N., Storholm, E. D., Ananias, D. K., Miller, L. C., & Ayala, A. (2010). The disparate roles of ethnicity and sexual orientation in predicting methamphetamine use and related beliefs and behaviors among MSM. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 39, s52.
Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., Storholm, E. D., Ayala, A. (2009). Methamphetamine, Sexual Functioning, and Sexual Risk-Taking: The Self-Regulatory Motivations of MSM [Abstract]. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 37, s40.
Godoy, C. G., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (2008). Guilty Pleasures: Using Virtual Environments to Reduce Risk-Taking [Abstract]. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 35, s63.
Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., Read, S. J., & Corsbie-Massay, C. (2008). Been There, Done That: Virtual Risk-Taking and the Theory of Planned Behavior [Abstract]. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 35, s63.
Read, S. J., Miller, L. C., Kostygina, A., Chopra, G., Christensen, J. L., Corsbie-Massay, C., Zachary, W., LeMentec, J., Iordanof, V., & Rosoff, A. (2007). The Personality-enabled Architecture for Cognition (PAC). Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction. New York: Springer.
Manuscripts Under Review
Christensen, J. L., *Bruen, H., *Kwak, E., *Lai, K. L., & *Ozer, H. (under review). The narcissistic environmentalist: A comparison of ego-centric versus eco-centric advertisements.
Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., & Miller, L. C. (under review). Methamphetamine and risky self-regulatory decision-making.
Invited Colloquia
Christensen, J. L. (November, 2008). Socially Optimized Learning in Virtual Environments (SOLVE). Department of Psychology, University of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA.
Christensen, J. L. (September, 2008). Understanding the relationship between psychological distress, sexual identity, and substance use during sex. The RAND Corporation. Santa Monica, CA.
Christensen, J. L. (April, 2006). Insights on the design and assessment of culturally-tailored persuasive appeals and behavioral interventions. Department of Psychology, University of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA.
Appleby, P. R. & Christensen, J. L. (July, 2005). The Virtual Sex Project: An Interactive Video HIV-Prevention Intervention. HIV Among Young People: Reaching the “Not Me” Generation. Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment. UCLA. Los Angeles, CA.
Christensen, J. L. (May, 1998). The Role of Metals in the Inhibition of HIV-1 Integrase. National Institutes of Health Symposium. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Chevy Chase, MD.
Conference Papers & Presentations
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., & Appleby, P. R. (To be presented June, 2010). What’s to be ashamed? Reducing self-conscious negative affect predicts future decreases in sexual risk-taking. Paper accepted for presentation at the 18th annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. Denver, CO.
Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., & Christensen, J. L. (To be presented June, 2010). A SOLVE prevention intervention using interactive video: Evidence of immediate enhancement of MSM’s condom use and methamphetamine avoidance intentions, beliefs, and self-efficacy. Paper accepted for presentation at the 18th annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. Denver, CO.
Miller, L. C., Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., Read, S. J., & Corsbie-Massay, C. (To be presented June, 2010). Results of a SOLVE-IAV efficacy trial: Evidence of reduction in insertive and receptive UAI over 3-months for younger (18-24) but not older (25-30) MSM compared to a wait-list control group. Paper accepted for presentation at the 18th annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. Denver, CO.
Christensen, J. L., *Wiswell, A. S., Appleby, P. R., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (January, 2010). Optimizing interactive persuasive communications: How perceptions of the message source relate to risk-reduction. Poster presented at the 11th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Las Vegas, NV.
Hunger, J. M., Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (January, 2010). Culture, Social Support, and Sexual Risk. Poster presented at the 11th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Las Vegas, NV.
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., Read, S. J., & Corsbie-Massay, C. (November, 2009). Using virtual environments to tailor persuasive appeals: The role of gains and losses given prior decisions to seek or avoid risk. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Judgment and Decision-Making. Boston, MA.
Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., *Ananias, D. K., Miller, L. C., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (February, 2009). Expecting the Worst: The Link Between Risky Decision-Making and the Perceived Probability of Feared Future Selves. Poster presented at the 10th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Tampa, FL.
Miller, L. C., Read, S. J., Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Godoy, C. G. (February, 2009). Socially Optimized Learning in Virtual Environments (SOLVE): Technology-Enabling Test-Beds for Theory, Intervention Application, and Dissemination…and back again. Lewin’s Legacy: Social Psychologists Can Make a Difference, “if the theorist does not look towards applied problems with highbrow aversion.” Panel session at 10th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Tampa, FL.
Godoy, C. G., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Talevich, J., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (October, 2008). Inside Outside: The interaction between immersive tendencies and sense of presence in changing risk-taking behavior via serious games. Paper presented at Meaningful Play. East Lansing, MI.
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., Godoy, C. G., & Read, S. J. (February, 2008). When It’s Good to Feel Bad: How Responses to Virtual Environments Predict Real-Life Risk-Taking. Poster presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Albuquerque, NM.
Read, S. J., Miller, L. C., Kostygina, A., Chopra, G., Christensen, J. L., Corsbie-Massay, C., Zachary, W., LeMentec, J., Iordanof, V., & Rosoff, A. (September, 2007). The Personality-enabled Architecture for Cognition (PAC). Poster presented at the International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction. Lisbon, Portugal.
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., & Read, S. J. (May, 2007). Using Virtual Environments to Reduce Real-Life Risk-Taking: The Impact of Interactivity and Negative Affect. Poster presented at the Annenberg Workshop on Games for Learning, Development, & Change. Annenberg School for Communication. University of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA.
Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (May, 2007). Measuring Risk-Taking in Virtual Environments: A New Method for Predicting Past and Future Real-Life Risk-Taking Behavior. Poster presented at the Annenberg Workshop on Games for Learning, Development, & Change. Annenberg School for Communication. University of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA.
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R., Corsbie-Massay, C., Godoy, C. G., & Read, S. J. (May, 2007). Negative affective reactions to an HIV-prevention intervention: Impact on subsequent sexual risk-taking. Paper presented at the International Communication Association. San Francisco, CA.
Godoy, C. G., Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., & Read, S. J. (May, 2007). Using virtual environments to unobtrusively measure real life risk-taking: Findings and implications from a health communication perspective. Paper presented at the International Communication Association. San Francisco, CA.
Christensen, J. L., Appleby, P. R., & Godoy, C. G. (June, 2006). Towards a Coherence of Multiple Identities. Paper presented at the International Communication Association. Dresden, Germany.
Godoy, C. G., Christensen, J. L., & Appleby, P. R. (June, 2006). Future Directions: Improving Gay and Bisexual Male Identities Through Media. Paper presented at the International Communication Association. Dresden, Germany.
Appleby, P. R., Christensen, J. L., & Godoy, C. G. (May, 2005). Planning, Administrating, Producing, and Editing Interactive Video: The Devil’s in the Details. Paper presented at the International Communication Association. New York, NY.
Christensen, J. L., Miller, L. C., Appleby, P. R. (May, 2005). Beginning the Interactive Video Process: Laying the Groundwork Before Production. Paper presented at the International Communication Association. New York, NY.
Teaching & Mentoring Experience
Instructor
COMM 301L: Empirical Research in Communication
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
Teaching Assistant & Guest Lecturer
COMM 554: Regression and Multivariate Research
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
Teaching Assistant & Guest Lecturer
COMM 550: Research Methods
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
Teaching Assistant
HP 490: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research
Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California
Teaching Assistant
HP 290: Introduction to Research Apprenticeship
Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California
Behavioral Intervention Development
In Progress
Game Designer
SOLVE: Intelligent Technologies
Risk-Reduction Video Game with Artificially Intelligent Virtual Humans
$4.1 million NIH grant awarded to Dr. Lynn Miller
2004
Producer, Writer, Assistant Editor, Assistant Programmer
The Virtual Sex Project
Culturally Tailored Interactive Video Risk-Reduction Intervention
$3.6 million NIH grant awarded to Dr. Lynn Miller
Doctoral Coursework
• Analysis of Variance and Experimental Design (Dr. Rand Wilcox)
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Dr. Zhong-Lin Lu)
• Grant Writing for the Social Sciences (Dr. Lynn Carol Miller)
• Health Communication (Dr. Lynn Carol Miller)
• Historical Foundations of Psychology (Dr. David Lavond)
• Intergroup & Interpersonal Relations (Dr. Norman Miller)
• Learning and Cognition (Dr. Joseph Hellige)
• Regression and Multivariate Communication Research III (Dr. Lynn Carol Miller)
• Research Techniques for Non-Experimental Social Science (Dr. Stephen J. Read)
• Seminar in Social Psychology (Dr. Norman Miller)
• Social Cognition (Dr. Stephen J. Read)
• Subjective Well-Being (Dr. Brian Lickel)
• Statistics in Psychological Research (Dr. Rand Wilcox)
• Structural Data Analysis in Psychological and Epidemiological Research (Dr. John J. McArdle)
Special Research & Statistical Skills
• Computational Modeling
• Focus Group Development & Implementation
• Meta-Analysis
• Mixed-Method Interviewing (> 250 hours)
• Qualitative Analysis
Membership in Professional Societies
• American Marketing Association
• Association for Consumer Research
• Association for Psychological Science
• International Communication Association
• Society for Consumer Psychology
• Society for Judgment and Decision Making
• Society for Personality and Social Psychology
• Society for Prevention Research
• Society of Behavioral Medicine
