Lemont Furnace, PA 15456
Biography
Dr. Robinson is an Assistant Professor of Corporate Communication. She researches in the areas of health and mass communication, publishing in flagship journals, including Communication Research and Human Communication Research.
Research Interests
Health communication, media effects, narrative persuasion, selective exposure, social cognitive theory, sleep, body image.
Publications
How Activated Self-Concepts Influence Selection and Processing of Body-Positive Narratives, Media Psychology [Impact Factor: 4.2] - November 6, 2023
Collaborator: Megan Vendemia, Co-Author
Instilling belief in the ability to change for the better: Narrative persuasion for sleep hygiene self-efficacy, Health Communication [Impact Factor: 3.198] - 2022
Collaborator: Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
Promoting Body Positivity Through Stories: How Protagonist Body Size And Esteem Influence Readers’ Self-Concepts, Body Image (Impact Factor: [6.406] - September, 2022
Collaborator: Megan Vendemia, Co-Author
The role of affect in selective exposure to media messages - January 1, 2022
Collaborator: Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
“Affective News” & attitudes: A multi-topic study of attitude impacts from political news and fiction, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly [Impact Factor: 3.431] - December 1, 2021
Collaborators: Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author; Rebecca Frazer, Co-Author; Emily Schutz, Co-Author
Narratives’ impacts on political attitudes: Do signaling of persuasive intent and fictionality matter? , Communication Studies [2.0 CiteScore (Scopus)] - July 5, 2021
Collaborators: Rebecca Frazer, Co-Author; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
News as entertainment format: Applying affective disposition theory and the affective news extended model - March 1, 2021
Collaborator: Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
Peers versus pros: Confirmation bias in selective exposure to user-generated versus mass media messages and its consequences, Mass Communication and Society [Impact Factor: 3.309] - 2020
Collaborators: Axel Westerwick, Co-Author; Daniel Sude, Co-Author; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
Seeking inspiration through health testimonials: Improving mother’s self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and behaviors in handling children’s sleep behavior, Health Communication [Impact Factor: 3.198] - September 16, 2020
Collaborator: Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
Beauty or business queen--How young women select media messages to reinforce their possible future selves, Communication Research [Impact Factor: 3.64] - April, 2020
Collaborators: Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author; Laura Willis, Co-Author; Kate Luong, Co-Author
"Pick and choose” opinion climate: How browsing of political messages shapes public opinion perceptions and attitudes, Communication Monographs [Impact Factor: 2.695] - 2019
Collaborators: Daniel Sude, Co-Author; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author; Axel Westerwick, Co-Author
Picture yourself healthy—How media users select images to shape health intentions and behaviors, Health Communication [Impact Factor: 3.198] - 2019
Collaborators: Brianna Wilson, Co-Author; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
The role of humor in messaging about the about the MMR vaccine, Journal of Health Communication [Impact Factor: 2.781] - 2018
Collaborators: Emily Moyer-Guse, Co-Author; Jessica McKnight, Co-Author
Bedtime stories that work: The effect of protagonist liking on narrative persuasion, Health Communication [Impact Factor: 3.198] - 2017
Collaborator: Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
Mood’s role in selective exposure to health and risk information - March, 2017
Collaborator: Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
Mood management through selective media use for health and well-being - 2016
Collaborator: Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
The allure of Aphrodite: How gender-congruent media portrayals impact adult women’s possible future selves, Human Communication Research [Impact Factor: 3.000] - April, 2016
Collaborators: Ashley Kennard, Co-Author; Laura Willis, Co-Author; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Co-Author
Does this book make me look fat? The effect of protagonist body weight and body esteem on female readers’ body esteem, Body Image: An International Journal of Research [Impact Factor: 6.406] - March, 2013
Collaborator: Robert Magee, Co-Author
Education
Ph D, Health Communication, The Ohio State University
MA, Mass Media and Communication, Virginia Tech
BA, Communication, Saint Vincent College
Papers and Presentations
November 16, 2023
Papers and Oral Presentations
Social Comparison in Message Framing Research: When Negative Role Models Serve as Motivation in Narratives
National Communication Association 109th Annual Convention
National Harbor, Maryland
The study is a 2x2 design manipulating message frame
(loss vs. gain) and protagonist health-related self-efficacy (low vs. high) in mystery narratives.Results indicated a main effect for protagonist self-efficacy with high self-efficacy protagonists (vs. low) influencing participant self-efficacy in sleep and alcohol. Protagonist self-efficacy did not moderate message frame effects. However, social comparison self-evaluation explained message framing effects for alcohol narratives only, demonstrating contrasting effects.
August 9, 2023
Oral Presentations
AI-Powered Tools in Education: Creating Course Content and Empowering Students
Commonwealth Connections: Instructor Days, Fall 2023
Virtual
Artificial Intelligence writing software (e.g., ChatGPT) is changing the way we think about content creation and communication. This presentation covered an assignment I designed to show students how to use AI software for social media content creation including suggestions and discussion for how instructors can incorporate similar assignments into their own courses.
May 26, 2022
Posters and Oral Presentations
The Influence of Female Readers’ Characteristics on Narrative Selection and Its Effects on Readers’ Self-Concepts
International Communication Association 72nd Annual Conference
Paris, France
The current study employs a selective exposure design where women can choose which narrative genre (romance or career) they would like to read, featuring a thin or large character with low or high body esteem, to examine effects while capturing participant characteristics that influence story selection. Results indicated participants’ salient self-concepts pertaining to romance and career predicted story selections. Participants with salient romance-related self-concepts were more likely to choose the romance genre, and those with salient career-related self-concepts were more likely to choose the career genre. Participant BMI predicted selection of a narrative featuring a thin or large character. Participants who read about thin (vs. large) and high (vs. low) body esteem characters reported higher state body esteem. Reading about characters with high (vs. low) body esteem also positively influenced participants’ perceptions of their own success in the relevant domain (career or romance). Implications of the findings will be discussed.
November 20, 2021
Papers and Oral Presentations
Promoting Body Positivity Through Narratives: The Effects of Female Protagonist Portrayals on Readers’ Engagement in Social Comparisons, Attributions, and Body Image
National Communication Association 107th Annual Convention
Seattle, Washington
This research investigates the effects of character body size (underweight vs. overweight), body esteem (low vs. high), and the valence of story ending (negative vs. positive). Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight short stories about a female character. Results indicate that characters that exude high body esteem not only are rated more favorably in terms of well-being (success, life satisfaction, happiness) and perceived competence, but also led readers to upwardly socially compare and aspire to be like the character. Results also suggest that reading about characters with larger bodies can positively affect readers’ own body image; however, this positive effect is explained by downwardly socially comparing with the character. Implications for promoting positive body image and the effects more diverse and inclusive depictions can have on audience members’ self-concept and outlook on life are discussed.