Media MOSAIC Lab

  • Selected Publications*

    *A bold name in the citation denotes a lab member.

    Our lab explores the dynamics of both traditional and new media by focusing on key issues such as marginalization, online hate, social identity, audience perception, intergroup relations, and collective action. We seek to understand how media shapes and reflects social attitudes, influences group behaviors, and impacts the collective experiences of marginalized communities in hopes of fostering a deeper understanding of mass media and how it may be utilized in addressing social inequalities and promoting positive social change.

    See our selected publications below, sorted by our key foci:

    Marginalization

    1. Overbye-Thompson, H., Garcia, E. A., Zhang, X., & Wang, L. H. (2025). Understanding perceptions of algorithmic bias through the risk perception and attitude framework. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1-20. Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2025.2546661

    2. Saleem, M., Mastro, D., & Docherty, M. (2023). Motivations underlying Latino Americans’ group-based social media engagement. Journal of Communication, 73(3), 198-209.
      DOI: 10.1093/joc/jqad013

    3. Yang, Q., Saleem, M., Dobson, E., & Grimmesey, S. (2024). The Mediating Role of Hesitancy in the Associations Between Mental Disorders and Social Support Seeking During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Behavioral Sciences, 14(11), 979. DOI: 10.3390/bs14110979

    Online Hate

    1. Van Houtven, E., Acquah, S. B., Obermaier, M., Saleem, M., & Schmuck, D. (2024). ‘You got my back?’ Severity and counter-speech in online hate speech toward minority groups. Media Psychology, 1-32. DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2023.2298684

    2. Roden, J., & Saleem, M. (2022). White apathy and allyship in uncivil racial social media comments. Mass Communication and Society, 25(3), 383-406. DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2021.1955933

    3. Obermaier, M., Schmuck, D., & Saleem, M. (2023). I’ll be there for you? Effects of Islamophobic online hate speech and counter speech on Muslim in-group bystanders’ intention to intervene. New Media & Society, 25(9), 2339-2358. DOI: 10.1177/14614448211017527

    Social Identity

    1. Ismail, I., & Jia, L. (2025). Reaching across the aisle: Committed and optimistic citizens support a non‐preferred presidency and cooperate with electoral winners. Political Psychology. Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1111/pops.70018

    2. Saleem, M., & Ismail, I. (2025). Testing the bi-directional influence of media and identity: A longitudinal study of Muslim American adolescents. Human Communication Research, Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1093/hcr/hqaf011

    3. Saleem, M., Hawkins, I., Rains, S. A., Mastro, D., & Coles, S. (2025). Media depictions of minority groups: A meta-analytic review examining the effects of positive and negative portrayals on outgroup evaluations. Media Psychology, 1-31. Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2025.2498374

    4. Bañales, J., Saleem, M., Murrar, S., Rivas-Drake, D., & Pinetta, B. J. (2024). Social identity development and religious discrimination among Muslim American youth. Developmental Psychology, 60(10), 1855. DOI: 10.1037/dev0001806

    5. Saleem, M., Wojcieszak, M. E., Hawkins, I., Li, M., & Ramasubramanian, S. (2019). Social identity threats: How media and discrimination affect Muslim Americans’ identification as Americans and trust in the US government. Journal of Communication, 69(2), 214-236. DOI: 10.1093/joc/jqz001

    Audience Perception

    1. Hawkins, I., Coles, S. M., Saleem, M., Moorman, J. D., & Aqel, H. (2024). How reel Middle Easterners’ portrayals cultivate stereotypical beliefs and policy support. Mass Communication and Society, 27(1), 1-25. DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2022.2062000

    2. Lane, D. S., Saleem, M., & Noor, M. (2020). Damned if you do, damned if you don’t: Effects of empathy and responsibility in Muslim leaders’ mediated responses to extremist attacks. Media Psychology, 23(2), 184-214. DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2019.1584570

    3. Saleem, M., Prot, S., Anderson, C. A., & Lemieux, A. F. (2017). Exposure to Muslims in media and support for public policies harming Muslims. Communication Research, 44(6), 841-869. DOI: 10.1177/0093650215619214

    Intergroup Relations

    1. Len, S. (2025). A social cognitive approach for using racially diverse entertainment media to improve children’s intergroup socialization. Annals of the International Communication Association. Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1093/anncom/wlaf019

    2. Lajevardi, N., Oskooii, K., Saleem, M., & Docherty, M. (2024). In the shadow of September 11: The roots and ramifications of anti‐Muslim attitudes in the United States. Political Psychology, 45, 87-118. DOI: 10.1111/pops.12943

    3. Yong, J. C., Jia, L., Ismail, I., & Lee, P. (2021). Conditional love: Threat and attitudinal perceptions of immigrants depend on their instrumentality to locals’ basic psychological needs. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(12), 1686-1704.
      DOI: 10.1177/0146167220984648

    4. Saleem, M., Dubow, E., Lee, F., & Huesmann, R. (2018). Perceived discrimination and intergroup behaviors: The role of Muslim and American identity integration. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(4), 602-617. DOI: 10.1177/0022022118763113

    Collective Action

    1. Saleem, M., Hawkins, I., Wojcieszak, M., & Roden, J. (2021). When and How Negative Media Representations Empower Collective Action in Minorities. Communication Research, 48(2), 291-316. DOI: 10.1177/0093650219877094

    2. Nekmat, E., & Ismail, I. (2019). Issue-based micromobilization on social media: Mediated pathways linking issue involvement and self-network opinion congruity to expressive support. Computers in Human Behavior, 101, 51-59.
      DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.008

    3. Hawkins, I., & Saleem, M. (2023). Rise UP!: A content analytic study of how collective action is discussed within White nationalist videos on YouTube. New Media & Society, 25(12), 3308-3327. DOI: 10.1177/14614448211040520

    Other Recent Lab Publications

    Miscellaneous

    1. Khoo, S. S., Jia, L., Ismail, I., Li, Y., Xing, L., & Pek, J. (2025). Feeling well, functioning well: How psychological well-being predicts later self-Control, but not the other way around. Social Psychological and Personality Science. Advanced online publication.
      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506251385007

    2. Dang, J., Xiao, S., Mao, L., Liu, X., Baumert, A., Bonneterre, S., Cai, S., Chen, X., de Chanaleilles, M., Ding, N., Fan, W., Feng, Y., Gao, D., He, X., Huang, W., Ismail, I., Jia, L., Li, H., Li, R., … Schiöth, H. B. (2025). Revisiting ego depletion: Evidence from multi-lab collaborations. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 19. Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1177/18344909251386084