Matthew McGlone, Ph.D.

Dr. Matt McGlone (Ph.D., Princeton University) is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Faculty Affiliate of the Center for Health Communication and Center for Identity.  He studies social influence, persuasion, and deception, with an emphasis on the key role language plays in these processes.   He has two main research programs.  One explores the strategic arousal of fear to promote healthy behavior.  In particular, he is interested in the persuasive advantage of messages that describe health threats as actors (e.g. Influenza kills thousands of people every year) over others that describe humans as actors (e.g., Thousands of people die from influenza every year).  A second program investigates the communication processes involved in identity theft.  Dr. McGlone and his students conduct research with UT’s Center for Identity examining the deception tactics used by identity thieves and developing best practices for educating consumers and businesses about protecting themselves from this growing criminal threat.  He teaches courses on persuasion, deception, and identity management in interpersonal communication.