Alice Isen works on Weill study on health and positive feelings

Alice M. Isen, a professor at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology, is developing the research protocols for a study testing whether patients show better self-control and improve more when they think and feel more positively. The five-year study at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City is supported by a $7.6 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Isen

"My colleagues and I appreciate NHLBI's making these funds available to study factors that help patients increase their self-control," said Isen, who is the S.C. Johnson Professor of Marketing and professor of psychology at Cornell. "This research will provide more information on personal self-control and how we might improve the lives and health of so many people."

Isen's protocols are being used in three clinical trials administered by Weill Cornell's Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CCIM). More than 1,200 patients are being evaluated in one-on-one interviews and then tested to assess strategies that will assist positive changes in behavior. The trials focus on: (1) promoting behaviors that support health in angioplasty patients; (2) improving exercise and physical activity in asthma patients; and (3) increasing medication adherence in hypertensive African-American patients. The study hypothesizes that positive feelings may help all three groups. For example, patients with cardiopulmonary disease who learn how to acquire a more positive outlook may make beneficial changes in their behavior, such as stopping smoking, exercising more, taking their medications regularly or improving their diets.

"We're pleased to have one of our colleagues playing such a vital role in this research effort," said Robert J. Swieringa, the Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean at the Johnson School. "Professor Isen's work has long been recognized by her peers and the corporate community. We congratulate her and look forward to the project's results."

Isen's research focuses on the influence of affect on social interaction, thought processes and decision-making, including applications to organizational behavior, medical decision-making and doctor-patient interaction. She has been a member of the executive committee of the Society for Consumer Psychology and the Society of Experimental Social Psychology and a visiting scholar at Stanford University. She has published extensively and is the co-author (with A.H. Hastorf) of Cognitive Social Psychology and (with B. Moore) of Affect and Social Behavior. She is the editor of Motivation and Emotion and has been on the editorial board of 10 journals in her fields.

Along with Isen, researchers include these Weill Cornell faculty members: Dr. Mary Charlson, principal investigator of the study, executive director of the CCIM, professor of medicine and chief, Division of General Internal Medicine; Dr. John Allegrante, professor of health education and adjunct professor of behavioral science; Dr. Laura Robbins, associate scientist, Hospital for Special Surgery and assistant professor of psychosocial science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences; and four Department of Medicine scientists: Drs. Gbenga Ogedegbe, James Hollenberg, Carla Boutin-Foster and Carol Mancuso.