Before, during, and after her tenures of leadership, Dr. Rodin had a long and impactful academic career.

She first studied psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, working in the research laboratory of Dr. Richard Solomon, and went on to earn her Ph.D. from Columbia University (1971), where she concentrated on experimental social psychology working with Dr. Stanley Schachter.

She taught briefly at New York University before joining the faculty at Yale, where she quickly earned an international reputation for her contributions to the literature on control and self-efficacy, women’s health, and on the interactions between biological, psychological, and social factors that cause obesity and eating disorders. Dr. Rodin’s work significantly advanced our understanding of the aging process, revealing that elderly individuals who have control over their environment are more active, healthier, and live longer than those who don’t—demonstrating the importance of agency and autonomy when it comes to one’s personal health and biological processes. In her two decades at Yale, Dr. Rodin was awarded some 20 grants, totaling nearly $30 million.

From 1983 to 1993, Dr. Rodin chaired a research network that studied health-promoting and health-damaging behavior for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This groundbreaking network brought together collaborators from around the world, ranging in disciplines from biochemistry to medical anthropology.

Today Dr. Rodin is recognized as a pioneer in both the behavioral medicine and health psychology movements. Her academic legacy includes research and training opportunities for a large number of graduate and postdoctoral students at Yale. In recognition of her scientific achievements, she was asked to serve on President Clinton’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Dr. Rodin was also elected to several leading academic societies, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the National Academy of Medicine, and was awarded both the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology (1977) and the Lifetime Career Achievement Award (2005) by the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Rodin has authored more than 200 academic articles and chapters, and either written or co-written 15 books. Selected articles and chapters on obesity and eating disorders, aging, control and efficacy, and women’s health are listed below:

Obesity and eating disorders

• Rebuffe-Scrive, M., Hendler, R., Bracero, N., Cummings, N., McCarthy, S., & Rodin, J. Biobehavioral effects of weight cycling. International Journal of Obesity, 1994, 18, 651-658.
• Brownell, K.D. and Rodin, J. The dieting maelstrom: Is it possible and advisable to lose weight? American Psychologist, 1994, 49(9), 781-791.
• Brownell, K.D. & Rodin, J. Medical, metabolic, and psychological effects of weight cycling. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1994, 154, 1325-1330.
• Striegel-Moore, R. H., Silberstein, L. R., & Rodin, J. The social self in bulimia nervosa: Public self-consciousness, social anxiety, and perceived fraudulence. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1993, 102(2), 297-303.
• Rodin, J. Cultural and psychosocial determinants of weight concerns. Annals of Internal Medicine, 1993, 119, 643-645.
• Pike, K.M., & Rodin, J. Mothers, daughters, and disordered eating. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1991, 100, 198-204.
• Rodin, J., Silberstein, L.R., & Striegel-Moore, R.H. Vulnerability and resilience in the age of eating disorders: Risk and protective factors for bulimia nervosa. In J.E. Rolf, A. Matsen, D. Cicchetti, K. Neuchterlein, & S. Weintraub (Eds.), Risk And Protective Factors In The Development Of Psychopathology. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1990, 361-383.
• Striegel-Moore, R., Silberstein, L., Grunberg, N. and Rodin, J. Competing on all fronts: Achievement orientation and disordered eating. Sex Roles, 1990, 23, 697-702.
• Striegel-Moore, R.H., Silberstein, L.R., Frensch, P., & Rodin, J. A prospective study of disordered eating among college students. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 1989, 8, 499-509.
• Weingarten, H.P., Hendler, R., & Rodin, J. Metabolism and endocrine secretion in response to a test meal in normal-weight bulimic women. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1988, 50, 273-285.
• Striegel-Moore, R., & Rodin, J. The influence of psychological variables in obesity. In Brownell & J.P. Foreyt (Eds.), Handbook of Eating Disorders: Physiology, Psychology, And Treatment of Obesity, Anorexia, and Bulimia. New York: Basic Books, 1986, 99-121.
• Striegel-Moore, R.H., Silberstein, L.R., & Rodin, J. Toward an understanding of risk factors for bulimia. American Psychologist, 1986, 41, 246-263.
• Rodin, J. Insulin levels, hunger and food intake: An example of feedback loops and body weight regulation. Health Psychology, 1985, 4, 1-24.
• Spitzer, L., & Rodin, J. Human eating behavior: A critical review of studies in normal weight and overweight individuals, Appetite: Journal for Intake Research, 1981, 2, 293-329.

Aging

• Seeman, T. E., Rodin, J., & Albert, M. Self-efficacy and cognitive performance: MacArthur studies of aging. Journal of Aging and Health, 1993, 5(4), 455-474.
• Rodin, J. Personal control through the life course. In R. Abeles (Ed.), Implications Of Life Span Perspectives and Social Psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1987, 103-119.
• Rodin, J. Aging and health. Effects of the sense of control. Science, 1986, 233.
• Rodin, J. Health, control, and aging. In M. Baltes & P. Baltes (Eds.), The Psychology of Control and Aging. Hillsdale, NJ: LEA, 1986, 139-165.
• Rodin, J., Bohm, L., & Wack, J. Control, coping and aging: Models for research and intervention. In L. Bickman (Ed.), Applied Social Psychology Annual. 3, 1982, 153-180.
• Wack, J., & Rodin, J. Nursing homes for the aged: The human consequences of legislation-shaped environments. Journal of Social Issues, 1978, 34, 6-21.
• Rodin, J., & Langer, E. Long-term effects of a control-relevant intervention with the institutionalized aged. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1977, 35, 897-902.
• Langer, E., & Rodin, J. The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976, 34, 191-198.

Control and efficacy

• Haidt, J., Rodin, J. Control and efficacy as interdisciplinary bridges. Review of General Psychology, 1999, 3 (4), 317-337.
• Rodin, J. & Timko, C. Sense of control, aging & health. In M. Ory, R. Abeles & P.D. Lipman (Eds.), Aging, Health & Behavior, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1992, 174-206.
• Rodin, J. Sense of control: Potentials for intervention. AAPSS, 1989, 503, 29-42.
• Rodin, J. Social psychological risk and protective factors in health and illness. In N. Grunberg, R.E. Nisbett, J. Rodin, & J.E. Singer (Eds.), A Distinctive Approach To Psychological Research. The Influence Of Stanley Schachter, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1987, 151-170.
• Rodin, J., Timko, C, & Harris, S. The construct of control: Biological and psychosocial correlates. In C. Eisdorfer, M.P. Lawton, & G. Maddox (Eds.), Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics. New York: Springer Publishing Company, 1985, 3-55.

Women’s Health

• Ickovics, J.R., Morrill, A.C., Meisler, A. W., Rodin, J., Bromberger, J.T., & Mathews, K.A. Employment and coronary risk in women at midlife: A longitudinal analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology, 1996, 143(2), 144-150.
• Ickovics, J.R., & Rodin, J. Women and AIDS in the United States: Epidemiology, natural history and mediating mechanisms. Health Psychology, 1992, 11(1), 1-16.
• Rodin, J., & Ickovics, J.R. Women’s health: Review and research agenda as we approach the 21st century. American Psychologist, 1990, 45, 1018-1034.
• Plante, T., & Rodin, J. Physical fitness and enhanced psychological health. Current Psychology: Research and Reviews, 1990, 9, 3-24.
• Matthews, K., & Rodin, J. Women’s changing work roles: Impact on health, family and public policy. American Psychologist, 1989, 44, 1389-1393.
• Rodin, J., Silberstein, L., & Striegel-Moore, R. Women and weight: A normative discontent. Nebraska Symposium On Motivation, Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1985, 267-307.

See Dr. Rodin’s curriculum vitae for a full bibliography of her work.