Shoots-Reinhard is interested in decision making and attitudes and persuasion. One area of her research investigates how perceived and actual numeric ability influences decisions and motivation to ultimately improve academic, healthy, and financial outcomes. A second area involves evidence-based communication, and how factors such as emotion, message resistance, and numeric ability facilitate or inhibit persuasion and behavior change. She has explored these factors in topics such as tobacco use and safe driving.

Selected Publications

• Peters, E., Tompkins, M.K., Knoll, M., Ardoin, S., Shoots-Reinhard, B., Meara, A. (2019). Despite high objective numeracy, lower numeric confidence relates to worse financial and medical outcomes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(39), 19386-19391.
• Peters, E., Shoots-Reinhard, B., Shoben, A., Evans, A.T., Klein, E., Tompkins, M.K., Romer, D., & Tusler, M. (2019). Pictorial warning labels and memory for cigarette health-risk information over time. Annals of Behaviorial Medicine, 53(4), 358-371.
• Peters, E., Shoots-Reinhard, B., Tompkins, M.K., Scheley, D., Meilleur, L., Sinayev, A., Tusler, M., Wagner, L., Crocker, J. (2017). Improving numeracy through values affirmation enhances decision and STEM outcomes. PLoS ONE 12(7), e0180674.
• Shoots-Reinhard, B., Petty, R.E., DeMarree, K.G., & Rucker, D.D. (2015). Personality certainty and politics: Increasing the predictive utility of individual-difference inventories. Journal of Political Psychology, 36(4), 415-430.
• Shoots-Reinhard, B., Rucker, D.D., Petty, R.E., & Shakarchi, R. (2014). Not all contrast effects are created equal: extent of processing affects contrast strength. Journal of Applied Psychology, 44(8), 523-535.
• Arkes, H.R., Shoots-Reinhard, B., & Mayes, R.M. (2012). Disjunction between probability and verdict in juror decision making. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 25(3), 276-294.