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Jennifer Harriger Faculty Profile

Jennifer Harriger

Professor of Psychology
Social Science Division, Seaver College
AC 240

Biography

Jennifer Harriger is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University. She received her BS in Biology, her MS in Clinical and Health Psychology and her PhD in Developmental Psychology. She teaches Foundations of Psychology, Lifespan Developmental Psychology, Child Clinical Psychology, Psychology of Gender, and Body Image and Eating Disorders. Her research focuses on the development of weight stigma in young children as well as body image and disordered eating in children, adolescents, undergraduates, and athletes. She supervises the Body Project, a peer-led prevention program designed to challenge undergraduate females to challenge the beauty ideal in our society. Finally, Dr. Harriger enjoys supervising and mentoring undergraduate students interested in obtaining research and clinical experience.

Education

  • BS, West Chester University, 2000
  • MS, Drexel University, 2002
  • PhD, University of New Mexico, 2009

 

  • Harriger, J.A., *Serier, K.L., *Luedke, M.L., *Robertson, S., *Bojorquez, A. (2018). Appearance related themes in children's animated movies released between 2004 and 2016: A content analysis. Body Image, 26, 78-82.
  • *Serier, K.N. Smith, J.E. Lash, D.N., Gianini, L.M., Harriger, J.A., *Sarafin, R.E., & Wolfe, B.N. (2018). Obligatory Exercise and Coping in Treatment-Seeking Women with Poor Body Image. Eating and Weight Disorders, 23, 331-338.
  • *Wick, M., & Harriger, J.A. (2018). A content analysis of thinspiration text posts and images on Tumblr. Body Image, 24, 13-16.
  • *Schaefer, L.M., Harriger, J.A., Thompson, J.K., & Heinberg, L.J. (2017). The development and validation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4-Revised (SATAQ-4R). International Journal of Eating Disorders, 50, 104-117.
  • Harriger, J.A. (2015). Age differences in body size stereotyping in a sample of preschool girls. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 23, 177-190.
  • Harriger, J. A., Witherington, D.C., & Bryan, A.B. (2014). Eating pathology in female gymnasts: Potential risk and protective factors. Body Image, 11, 501-509. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.07.007
  • Harriger, J.A. & Thompson, J.K. (2012). Psychological consequences of obesity: Weight bias and its relationship to body image in youth. International Review of Psychiatry, 24, 247-253. doi:10.3109/09540261.2012.678817
  • Harriger, J.A. (2012). Children's media influences. In T. Cash (Ed.), Encyclopedia of body image and human appearance. (pp. 314-319). Academic Press: Oxford.
  • Harriger, J.A., Calogero, R.M., Witherington, D.C., & Smith J.E. (2010). Body size stereotyping and internalization of the thin-ideal in preschool-age girls. Sex Roles, 63, 609-620. doi: 10.1007/s11199-010-9868-1
  • Witherington, D. C., Campos, J. J., Harriger, J. A., Bryan, C., & Margett, T. E. (2010). Emotion and its development in infancy. In G. Bremner (Ed.), Blackwell handbook of infant development. Cambridge: Blackwell.
  • Witherington, D.C. & Crichton, J.A. (2007). Frameworks for Understanding Emotions and their Development: Functionalist and Dynamic Systems Approaches. Emotion 7(3), 628-637.

*denotes a student hereafter

  • Seaver Fellow in Social Science, Pepperdine University, 2010-2011, 2012-2013, 2013-2014
  • Outstanding Teaching Assistant of the Year, University of New Mexico, 2007-2008
  • Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year, West Chester University, 2003-2004
  • Luedke, M., Wick, M., & Harriger, J. (2018, April). Gender differences in weight bias attitudes in preschool children. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Chicago, IL.
  • Robertson, S., Luedke, M., Rinehart, J., & Harriger, J. (2018, April). The relationship between weight bias internalization, fat talk, and body satisfaction in undergraduate females. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Chicago, IL.
  • Wick, M., & Harriger, J. (2018, April). A content analysis of Thinspiration messages on Tumblr. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Chicago, IL.
  • Herbozo, S., *Stevens, S. D., & Harriger, J. (2017, October). Social media use and eating pathology in young adult women and men with overweight/obesity. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society, Washington, DC.
  • *Wick, M., Miller-Perrin, C., & Harriger, J. (2017, August). The relationship between Instagram photo editing and body dissatisfaction in undergraduate women. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
  • *Martin, A., *Serier, K., *Parker, L., & Harriger, J. (2016, May). Appearance Related Messages in Children's Animated Movies: A Content Analysis. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Academy for Eating Disorders, San Francisco, CA.
  • *Martin, A., Mancuso, L., & Harriger, J. (2015, May). Systemizing, empathizing and autistic traits in relation to eating disorder symptomatology. Poster presented at the annual American Psychological Science convention, New York, NY.
  • Harriger, J.A. (2014, March). Gender Differences in the Internalization of Stereotypical Beliefs about Body Size in Preschool-age Children. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy for Eating Disorders, New York, NY.
  • *Drummond, A., Miller-Perrin, C., Harriger, J. (2013, August). The Effect of Reading Christian Scripture on Body Appreciation and Body Dissatisfaction in College Women. Poster presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, HI.
  • *Mcdonald, J., Miller-Perrin, C., Harriger, J. (2013, August). The Effect of Preferred Music and Extraversion on Reading Comprehension. Poster presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, HI.
  • *Perry, J., Krumrei, L., & Harriger, J.A. (2012, August). The effects of perfectionism and self-expectations on athletic performance. Poster presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Orlando, FL.
  • *Dimler, L. & Harriger, J.A. (2012, March). Assertiveness and Approval Motivation as they Relate to Deception. Poster presented at the Stanford undergraduate Research Conference. Stanford, CA.
  • *Siegmund, C., Harriger, J., & Bauer, L.M. (2011, May). Sexist events and psychological distress in women: Examining the relationship with self-objectification and the role of coping. Poster presented at the meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA.
  • Gianini, L., Harriger, J., Austin, J., & Smith, J.E. (2008, May). Body Dissatisfaction Partially Mediates the Relationship between Social Evaluation Self-Esteem and Restrained Eating Behavior in a Sample of Undergraduate Women. Poster presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Seattle, WA.
  • Harriger, J., Gianini, L., Nelson, R., & Fariello, L. (2008, May). Preschool Girls' Internalization of Body Stereotypes. Poster presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Seattle, WA, May 2008.
  • Gianini, L., Austin, J., Lundy, S.L., Harriger Crichton, J., Campos-Melady, M., Sitton, K., Smith, J.E., & Erickson, S. (2007, May). Mother's bulimic symptoms mediate the relationship between parenting behavior, coping style, and daughter's BMI: A community sample of Hispanic and white, non-Hispanic mothers. Poster session presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Baltimore, MD.
  • Gianini, L., Crichton, J.H., Lundy, S.L., Smith, J.E., Erickson, S., Lash, D. (2005, May). Does mother's own body dissatisfaction affect appraisal of her daughter's body?: A community sample of Hispanic and white, non-Hispanic mothers. Poster presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Montreal, Quebec.
  • Forman, M.; Harriger, J. & Davis, B. (2004, May). Treatment expectations, experiences, and outcomes in residential treatment for eating disorders. Paper presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Orlando, FL.
  • Forman, M.; Harriger, J. & Davis, B. (2004, May). Patterns of outcome in anorexic inpatients at discharge and 3- month follow-up. Paper presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Orlando, FL.
  • Harriger, J. & Lowe, M. (2003, November). The Selective Underreporting of Food Intake in Clinically Obese Women. Poster presented at the Renfrew Conference, Philadelphia, PA, November, 2003.
  • Calogero-Wah, R.M., Harriger, J.A., & Davis, W.N. (2002, April). Relationship between Diagnosis, Age, and EDI-2 in an Inpatient Eating Disorder Population. Poster presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders. Boston, MA.
  • Harriger, J.A., Calogero-Wah, R.M., & Davis, W.N. (2002, April). Perceived Quality of Relationships in an Inpatient Eating Disorder Population. Poster presented at the Scientific Proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Boston, MA.
  • WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS
  • Mensinger, J., Bazzi, K., Calogero, R., Harriger, J., & McGilley, B. (2016, May). Rethinking and Restoring Exercise for Health at Every Size: New Integrative Approaches for Eating Disorder Treatment and Recovery. Panel Discussion presented at the annual meeting of the Academy for Eating Disorders, San Francisco, CA.
  • Harriger, J., Diedrichs, P., Becker, C. B., Yager, Z., Townsend, D., & Rutsztein, G. (2012, May). Being good sports: How can we create a winning team to increase eating disorder prevention and positive body image initiatives in physical activity environments? Moderator of panel discussion presented at the scientific proceedings of the Academy of Eating Disorders, Austin, TX.
  • Thompson, R., Harriger, J., Sherman, R., & Rutsztein, G. (2010, June). Eating Disorders in Ballet and Sport. Panel discussion presented at the scientific proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Salzburg, Austria.
  • Harriger, J., Thompson, R., Bachner, R. (2008, April). An Examination of Current Prevention, Research, and Treatment on Eating Disorders and Athletes. Moderator of panel discussion presented at the scientific proceedings of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Seattle, WA.
  • Pedrotty, K. & Harriger, J. (2004, March). Exercise Abuse Among College Students. Workshop presented at the annual conference of the Massachusetts Eating Disorder Association. Boston, MA.
  • Pedrotty, K. & Harriger, J. (2003, September). Challenging the Athlete: Redefining Exercise Through Awareness, Education, and Experience. Workshop presented at the Athletes and Eating Disorders special interest group mini conference of the Academy for Eating Disorders, Indianapolis, IN.
  • Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Teaching Grant, Internal grant, Pepperdine University, 2017-2018
  • Seaver Research Council Grant, Internal grant, Pepperdine University, 2015-2016
  • Student Mentor Grant, Internal grant, Pepperdine University, Spring, 2015; Fall, 2015, Spring, 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2018
  • Dean's Research Grant, Internal grant, Pepperdine University, 2011, 2012
  • AYURI Research Project Funding, Internal grant, Pepperdine University, Spring, 2010; Spring, 2011; Fall, 2011; Fall, 2012; Fall, 2013; Fall, 2014; Fall, 2015; Spring, 2016; Fall, 2016; Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018
  • Harriger, J.A. (2013, August 23). Interviewed for a special on the obsession with fitness and weight which appeared on South Korean Public Television.
  • Fox and Friends National Morning Show, Fox Network, December 7, 2010. Discussed research on internalization of the thin ideal.
  • The Afternoon News with Richard Brown, NewsTalk CKOM/CJME, Rawlco Radio Saskatchewan, December 3, 2010. Discussed research on internalization of the thin ideal.
  • Calgary Today, QR77 Calgary, Corus Entertainment Radio Alberta, December 3, 2010. Discussed research on internalization of the thin ideal.
  • News Radio 105.5, November 22, 2010. Discussed research on internalization of the thin ideal.
  • Research on internalization of the thin ideal has been cited in various online sites and newspapers including msnbc.com, foxnews.com, and the Montreal Gazette

Areas of Expertise

  • Weight Bias
  • Body Image
  • Disordered Eating
  • Child Clinical Psychology
  • Psychology of Gender

Topics

  • Relationship Between Social Media and Body Image
  • Body Image and Disordered Eating in Children, Adolescents, and Adults
  • Development of Weight Bias in Young Children

Courses

  • Child Clinical Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Foundations of Psychology
  • Body Image and Eating Disorders
  • Psychology of Gender