Introduction

My research emphases are (a) health communication, (b) social, normative and media influence, (c) attitude change and attitude-behavior modeling, and (d) measurement, assessment and research focuses on social influence processes occurring within immersive virtual reality environments, with a particular emphasis on utilizing virtual gaming technology to deliver effective health communications.

Bio

Dr. Blanton studies communication processes that affect meaningful life outcomes in the areas of health, prejudice, and well-being. A social psychologist by training, his research draws on theories of attitude-behavior relations, social cognition, social comparison, and social norms. He also publishes on topics related to research methodology, with a particular focus on psychological measurement, and he has an interest in better understanding the ways that simplified media representations of scientific research can influence public perceptions and social policies. Much of his current and forthcoming work utilizes immersive virtual technology to deliver health messages.

Courses Taught

COMM 669: Survey of Health Communication
COMM 600: Message Design
COMM 610: Social Science Methods in Communication Research
COMM 308:  Research Methods
COMM 325:  Persuasion
COMM 370:  Health Communication

Representative Publications

• Ikizer, E.G., & Blanton, H. (2016). Media coverage of “wise” interventions can reduce concern for the disadvantaged. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 22(2), 135 – 147.
• Blanton, H., & Jaccard, J. (2015). Not so fast: Ten challenges to importing implicit attitude measures to media psychology. Media Psychology, 18(3), 338 – 369.
• Burrows, C.N., & Blanton, H. (2015). Real-world persuasion from virtual world campaigns: How transportation into virtual worlds moderates in-game influence. Communication Research, 43(4), 542 – 570.
• Blanton, H., Gerrard, M., & McClive, K. (2013). Threading the needle in health-risk communication: Increasing vulnerability salience while promoting self-worth. Journal of Health Communication, 18(11), 1279 – 1292.
• Blanton, H., & Hall, D. (2009). Punishing difference and rewarding diversity: A deviance regulation analysis of social structure. In J. Forgas, R. Baumeister, & D. Tice (Eds). The Psychology of Self -Regulation (Sydney Symposium in Social Psychology). (pp. 273 – 288). Brighton, NY: Psychology Press.

Books

• Pelham, B.W., & Blanton, H. (2002; 2006; 2012). Conducting Research in Psychology: Measuring the Weight of Smoke. Pacific Grove, CA: International Thompson Publishing.
• Stapel, D., & Blanton, H. (Editors, 2006). Social Comparison: Essential Readings. Brighton, NY: Psychology Press.