Long Citation
Professor Polivy's research has had both an important theoretical impact, revolutionizing research on dieting and human eating behavior, and a practical impact on people's strategies for dieting, weight regulation, and self-change. Polivy's work has always proven to be counterintuitive and by virtue of that attribute, extremely important both theoretically and for the 'real world'. For instance, she and her colleagues showed that intermittent dieting, so common to women in our culture, can have clearly negative effects on body weight gain and regulation, in part by inducing 'binge' eating. Similarly, Polivy's identification of 'The False Hope Syndrome' illuminates factors in typical 'self-help' programs that make failure likely. Given the impact of her work on eating behavior, health psychology, self-regulation, and eating disorders/obesity, it is not surprising that Professor Polivy was identified as one of the most highly-cited psychological researchers in the world. She has a national and international reputation as a scientist, serving on numerous journal editorial boards and government panels/advisory groups. She also works to improve and regulate her profession, and educate the public.

Short Citation
Janet Polivy's research has had both an important theoretical impact, revolutionizing research on dieting and human eating behavior, and a practical impact on people's strategies for weight regulation. Professor Polivy was identified as one of the most highly-cited psychological researchers in the world. She has a national and international reputation as a scientist and also works to improve and regulate her profession and educate the public.