Media MOSAIC Lab

  • Selected Publications*

    *A bold name in the citation denotes that the author is 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. 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

    2. Overbye-Thompson, H., Garcia, E. A., Zhang, X., & Wang, L. H. (2026). Understanding perceptions of algorithmic bias through the risk perception and attitude framework. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 42(8), 5854-5873. DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2025.2546661

    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. Schmuck, D., Obermaier, M., Molina-Rogers, N., & Saleem, M. (2026). From Hate Speech to Collective Action Intentions: The Role of Counter-Speech and Accuracy Cues Among Targeted Minorities. Communication Research. Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1177/00936502261489660

    2. 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

    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

    4. 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

    Social Identity

    1. Saleem, M., Hawkins, I., Rains, S. A., Mastro, D., & Coles, S. (2026). Media depictions of minority groups: A meta-analytic review examining the effects of positive and negative portrayals on outgroup evaluations. Media Psychology, 29(2), 275-305. DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2025.2498374

    2. 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

    3. 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

    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. Len, S., & Kim, K. (2026). Who matters in Asian American movies? A content analysis of subgroup and intergroup representations. Communication Quarterly, 1-24. Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1080/01463373.2026.2751193

    2. Len, S., & Kubitza, S. (2026). Almost Villains? A Mixed-Method Examination of White Audiences’ Racial and Moral Categorization of Media Characters. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1-17. DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2026.2654865

    3. Kim, K., & Len, S. (2026). Career representation of Asian Americans in movies: A mixed methods approach to examining media vocational anticipatory socialization messages. Communication and Race, 1-21. DOI: 10.1080/28346955.2026.2637482

    4. 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

    5. 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

    6. 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. Pan, Y., Ahmed, S., Cai, M., & Deng, R. (2026). Understanding social media use and political participation: A lens of social media social capital and gender dynamics. Mass Communication and Society, 1-19. DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2026.2650668

    2. 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

    3. 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

    4. 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. Pan, Y. Q., Herrera, S., & Wang, Y. (2026). AI as “Artificial Immigrants”? A Content Analysis of the US News Media Framing of AI Threats. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1-19. DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2026.2692543

    2. Teo, T. W., Tan, C. S., Ismail, I., & Oh, V. Y. (2026). Predicting the future from fear: An RI‐CLPM analysis of risk appraisals and long‐term psychological well‐being. Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being, 18(3). Advanced online publication.
      DOI: 10.1111/aphw.70173

    3. Quek, T., Jia, L., Ismail, I., Lim, L., Yuen, W. L., Lim, C. H., & Chia, P. Y. (2026). The motivated chatterbox: Examining the motives of goal sharing. Motivation and Emotion, 1-31. Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1007/s11031-026-10210-z

    4. Torres-Pantoja, S., Rhee, L., Unkel, J., Saleem, M., & Bayer, J. B. (2026). Which platforms count? The diverse meanings of “social media” in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000656

    5. 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: 10.1177/19485506251385007