Exploring Weight Loss Maintenance Through Experiments

Abstract:
I explore a theory of goal maintenance which states that individuals who achieve significant goals – such as getting out of debt, becoming sober, or losing a substantial amount of weight – are more likely to maintain the progress achieved if they frequently think about the person they were in the past, before meeting the goal, and make downward comparisons between their present self and their past, pre-goal self. In this talk, I will discuss two studies used to test this theory for weight loss maintenance, including an observational study using data from Reddit and a randomized controlled experiment using an Amazon Mechanical Turk population. I will also discuss R methods used to parse through semi-structured data, perform regression analyses and hypothesis tests, and visualize results.

Bio:
Elicia John is a Behavioral Data Scientist. Her research focuses on consumer well-being and decision making, and she works to uncover insights that will help consumers live healthier, happier, and more productive lives. Her work has been presented at national and international conferences – including the Association for Consumer Research Conference, the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, and the Race in the Marketplace Forum – and published in the Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences journal. Prior to pursuing doctoral studies, Elicia worked as a data scientist and management consultant. She helped stakeholders and clients in public, private, and non-profit sector organizations improve business operations and develop effective policy and strategy. She currently holds Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees in Management (Consumer Behavior and Decision Making) from UCLA, a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in engineering.