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 Rachel Smith
Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Office:
318 Sparks Building
Telephone: (814) 863-0030
Fax:
(814) 863-7986
E-mail: ras57@psu.edu
Curriculum
Vitae
EDUCATION:
Ph.D. Communication, Michigan State University, 2003.
M.S. Communication, University of Arizona, 1999.
B.A. CLA, Psychology; B.S. COC, TV/Film, Boston University, 1994.
RESEARCH
ACTIVITIES AND INTERESTS:
I investigate social influences in health communication. My research focuses on the impact of social phenomena (e.g., social networks, social support, social cognition, and stigma) on message diffusion and behavioral adoption in both domestic and international contexts. Specific interests include:
- Identifying critical message features and critical people within social networks that facilitate and inhibit message diffusion, decision-making, and behavioral adoption in managing health ailments
- Identifying impacts of social influence (e.g., support, norms, and stigma) on communicators' susceptibility to health aliments and immunity
- Developing and extending theoretical models of stigma communication and label management
- Entertainment-education interventions
COURSES:
CAS 202: Communication Theory
CAS 253/453: Health Communication
CAS 557: Health Communication
CAS 597E: Quantitative methods for handing data interdependence
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS:
- Smith, R.A., & Hipper, T. (in press). Label management: Investigating how confidants encourage the use of communication strategies to avoid stigmatization (43 pages). Health Communication.
- Smith, R.A., & Niedermyer, A.J. (2009). Keepers of the secret: Desire to conceal a family member’s HIV+ status in Namibia, Africa. Health Communication, 24, 459-472.
- Smith, R. A., & Boster, F. (2009). Understanding the influence of others on perceptions of a message’s advocacy: Testing a two-step model. Communication Monographs, 76, 333 – 350.
- Smith, R.A., & Rimal, R. (2009). The impact of social capital on HIV-related actions as mediated by personal and proxy efficacies in Namibia. AIDS and Behavior, 13, 133-145.
- Smith, R. A. (2009). Using social network information to design effective health campaigns to address HIV in Namibia. In L. Lagerwerf, H. Boer, & H. Wasserman (Eds.), Communicating health in emerging countries: Alternative media and appeals in Southern Africa (pp. 35-54). Leiden, South Africa: Brill publishers.
- Smith, R. A., Rossetto, K., & Peterson, B. L. (2008). A meta-analysis of perceived stigma, disclosure of one’s HIV + status, and perceived social support. AIDS Care, 20, 1266-1275.
- Smith, R.A., & Nguyen, L. (2008). Searching for a “generalized social agent” to predict Namibians’ intentions to prevent sexual transmission of HIV. AIDS Care, 20, 242-250.
AWARDS:
Top Paper Award, International Communication Association, Mass Communication
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