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Ian Hawkins

Assistant ProfessorThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Heritage Hall 329
(205) 934-3877

Research and Teaching Interests: Media psychology, Media and intergroup conflict, Social media, and collective action, Digital media effects, Political communication

Office Hours: By appointment only

Education:

  • B.S., Central Michigan University, Psychology
  • M.S., Central Michigan University, Experimental Psychology
  • Ph.D., University of Michigan, Communication, and Media

Ian Hawkins studies the role and influence of traditional media and social media using social scientific methods. His research applies an interdisciplinary lens to study how stereotypical representations of marginalized groups in media cultivate negative attitudes and policy support. Currently, he is also examining how individuals consume and engage with news on different devices. Using eye-tracking methods this work hopes to understand the role of attention in the ways users process news headlines. Dr. Hawkins has recently published in journals such as New Media and Society, Journal of Communication, Communication Research, and Psychology of Popular Media. In relation to teaching, he teaches classes on the history and effects of mass communication and classes on how individuals use social media.

Websites:

 

  • Recent Courses
    • Introduction to Mass Communication
    • Media Psychology
    • Impacts of Social Media
  • Select Publications
    • Hawkins, I., Coles, S., Saleem, M., Moorman, J. & Aqel, H. (2022). How Reel Middle Easterners’ Portrayals Cultivate Real Attitudes and Policy Support. Mass Communication and Society. doi: 10.1080/15205436.2022.2062000
    • Hawkins, I., Saleem, M., Gibson, B., & Bushman, B. J. (2021). Extensions of the Proteus Effect on Intergroup Aggression in the Real World. Psychology of Popular Media, 10, 478–487. doi:10.1037/ppm0000307
    • Saleem, M., Hawkins, I., Wojcieszak, M., & Roden, J. (2021). When and How Negative Media Representations Empower Collective Action in Minorities. Communication Research, 48, 291-316. doi: 10.1177/0093650219877094
    • Gibson, B., Hawkins, I., Redker, C., & Bushman, B. J. (2018). Narcissism on the Jersey Shore: Exposure to narcissistic reality TV characters can increase narcissism levels in viewers. Psychology of Popular Media, 7, 399–412. doi:10.1037/ppm0000140