Lijiang Shen

Lijiang Shen is a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Pennsylvania State University, specializing in persuasive health communication, message processing, and quantitative research methods. His work addresses audience characteristics in health communication, resistance to persuasion, and the design of effective health messages.

Education:

• B.A., Peking University, China (1996)
• M.A., Peking University, China (1999)
• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison (2005)

Research Interests: Dr. Shen focuses on understanding how message features and audience attributes influence health communication outcomes. His studies explore the cognitive and motivational processes underlying persuasion, including the roles of fear appeals, empathy, message framing, and misinformation. He also develops and validates measurement tools for constructs like message fatigue and psychological reactance. His recent work examines vaccine hesitancy, the persistence of health misinformation, and the effectiveness of targeted communication strategies in public health crises.

Advising & Grants: While no advisees are listed, his research has been funded by grants supporting projects on health communication, including studies on anti-smoking PSAs, vaccine messaging, and genetic risk communication. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, contributing to major communication and public health journals.

Labs & Teams: Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams in health communication, behavioral science, and public health, though specific lab affiliations are not detailed in the text.