If you made any changes in Pure these will be visible here soon.

Personal profile

Biography

Bernice is a research fellow at BehaviourWorks Australia within the Monash Sustainable Development Institute at Monash University. Bernice’s primary research interest is in the area of behaviour change, with a focus on persuasive messages and the psychological influence techniques of implementation intentions and self-persuasion.
 
Bernice completed her PhD in psychology at Macquarie University (Australia) and her undergraduate studies at The University of Auckland (New Zealand). In her PhD thesis, Bernice examined the effects of anti-speeding messages on young drivers, using a driving simulator, and she conducted offsite research at the Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud University (The Netherlands). During this time, she was the editor of ‘Hidden Persuasion: 33 Psychological Influence Techniques in Advertising’.
 
At BehaviourWorks, Bernice conducts applied research projects which draw upon The BehaviourWorks Method to find solutions to real-world problems in the areas of health, road safety, education, and environment. She has experience developing feasible and scalable interventions and expertise in trial design and implementation to evaluate intervention impact. Bernice has conducted a range of behaviour change trials, including multi-site hospital trials and randomised controlled trials. The types of interventions she has experience developing include persuasive messages, motivational and behavioural reflection tools. Bernice also serves on the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (MUHREC).  
 

Research interests

Behaviour change: Anthropomorphism; gamification; humour; implementation intentions; persuasion; self-persuasion; social influence.

Areas of application: health; road safety; education; environment.

Other research interests: creativity; cognitive processes; individual differences.

Research methods: Randomised controlled trials; systematic reviews; direct and objective measures of behaviour; implicit measures. 

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 14 - Life Below Water

Research area keywords

  • Behaviour Change
  • Creativity and Innovation
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Cognition
  • Randomised controlled trials
  • Systematic reviews

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or