Event Date
Dana Mastro
Navigating Threatened & Misrepresented Identities: Media, Self, and Group
Abstract: Media can play a meaningful role in shaping how individuals view their own group and other groups, producing a range of beliefs and emotions that can affect how people interact with the social environment. When one's group is threatened or misrepresented in the media, it can have detrimental implications for self- and group-concept that motivate a variety of actions to manage the damage to the group and the potential harm to one's well-being. The current presentation addresses research on how these threats manifest in strategic communication patterns with ingroup members, attempts to protect the group and oneself, and even collective action efforts.
Bio: Dana Mastro is Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Personnel and Professor of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her B.A. in History from UCLA, her M.A. in Communication-Urban Studies from Michigan State University, and her Ph.D. in Communication from Michigan State University. Dr. Mastro’s research is aimed at increasing our understanding of the influence of media on perceptions of self and other as well as on intergroup dynamics in society. To this end, her work (a) documents overarching patterns in the representation of distinct groups across media platforms and genres and (b) investigates the influence of exposure to these characterizations on media users' cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. In testing these relationships across digital and traditional media contexts, her research incorporates a broad range of quantitative methods (e.g., content analyses, experiments, longitudinal studies) and diverse bodies of literature including those rooted in social identity theory and self-categorization theory as well as other identity-based frameworks.
Professor Mastro is a Fellow of the International Communication Association. Her research can be found in journals such as Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Communication Research, Media Psychology, and the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, as well as in books such as Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research. Her work has been funded by both private and federal granting agencies. She teaches classes in media theory; mass communication; and media & intergroup processes.