The Media, Adolescence, and Sexualities  (MAaS) Lab

We are currently researching the roles of technology and popular culture in the sexual development of people ages 12-30. Our current projects include:

• Online sexual harassment among teens: we are currently analyzing sexual misconduct policies across the state of Michigan and surveying secondary school workers on their perceptions of and response to online sexual harassment.
• Social media use, decision making, and depression: we are using lab experiments and daily diary methodology to disentangle the effects of social media in teens' daily life.
• Online sexual objectification: we are working on new measures for sexual objectification experiences with media.
• PopPorn Evaluation: We are currently implementing and evaluating a brief curriculum on popular culture, pornography, and prevention. The target audience is secondary school workers. However, there is a parent version as well. Ask us about it!
• iParent: a mixed-methods approach to understanding the experiences of and barriers to talking to kids about sexuality, gender, sexual culture, and media. We are interviewing and surveying parents from all walks of life on this issue. Our sample includes upper-middle class white parents, Latino Immigrant parents, rural working-class parents, and urban African American parents.