Robin Nabi

About

Robin Nabi is a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a position she has held since 2009. She received her AB from Harvard College and her MA/PhD from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the role of emotion in media processes and effects, with particular emphasis on the persuasive effect of emotion-based messages and the relationship between media use and well-being. She has published over 100 articles and book chapters in these areas and has co-edited the SAGE Handbook of Media Processes and Effects and Emotions in the Digital World with Oxford Press. Nabi has served as managing editor of Media Psychology, associate editor of the Journal of Communication, and on the editorial board of numerous top communication journals. She is a past chair of the Mass Communication Division of the International Communication Association and the Communication and Social Cognition Division of the National Communication Association. Her work has been featured in major media outlets including NPR, the New York Times, and Harvard Business Review. She teaches courses in persuasion, emotion and media, communication and emotion, health communication, and mass media effects. Her current research projects focus on media use to mitigate stress and enhance well-being, goal motivation, and empathy.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Medicine
• Virology
• Social psychology
• Psychiatry
• Philosophy
• Psychotherapist
• Nursing
• Linguistics

Selected publications

• The Psychology of Framing: How Everyday Language Shapes the Way We Think, Feel, and Act

  Gothic.net · 2024-12-01 · 65 citations

  review

  When we use language to communicate, we must choose what to say, what not to say, and how to say it. That is, we must decide how to frame the message. These linguistic choices matter: Framing a discussion one way or another can influence how people think, feel, and act in many important domains, including politics, health, business, journalism, law, and even conversations with loved ones. The ubiquity of framing effects raises several important questions relevant to the public interest: What mak…

  PublisherDOI

• Consuming memes during the COVID pandemic: Effects of memes and meme type on COVID-related stress and coping efficacy.

  Psychology of Popular Media · 2021 · 61 citations

  As COVID-19 quickly spread across the globe, social media memes (i.e., typically humorous or cute images related to popular culture) about life in a pandemic also spread across the Internet. We conducted a between-subjects online experiment (N = 748) to assess how viewing memes during this pandemic era may influence audiences' stress and coping. In terms of psychological responses, we found that meme viewing (vs. nonmeme content) was associated with stronger cuteness responses, higher levels of…

  DOI

• Media Prescriptions: Exploring the Therapeutic Effects of Entertainment Media on Stress Relief, Illness Symptoms, and Goal Attainment

  Journal of Communication · 2020 · 59 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Rooted in theories of positive emotions, this research asks the question: Can media be prescribed to help mitigate the negative effects of stress on well-being? Over the course of 5 days, participants were assigned 5-minute YouTube videos pilot tested to evoke hope, amusement, or calmness. Compared to a no-message control, each media group reported reduced stress during the intervention. All groups also reported reduced stress and fewer illness symptoms a few days after the intervention…

  DOI

• Coping with COVID-19 stress: The role of media consumption in emotion- and problem-focused coping.

  Psychology of Popular Media · 2022 · 46 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Does Digital Media Use Harm Children’s Emotional Intelligence? A Parental Perspective

  Media and Communication · 2022-03-29 · 31 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Emotional intelligence (EI) is comprised of a set of critical life skills that develop, in part, through practice in social interaction. As such, some have expressed concern that the heavy screen media diet of today’s youth threatens the development of those crucial abilities. This research assesses how the media diet of children and the media use of their parents relates to child EI levels to assess what, if any, specific patterns exist. Four hundred parents of children aged 5–12 reported on, a…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Abby Prestin

  13 shared

• Nathan Walter

  10 shared

• Lara N. Wolfers

  University of Amsterdam

  8 shared

• Jiyeon So

  Yonsei University

  7 shared

• Karyn Riddle

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  5 shared

• Marina Krcmar

  5 shared

• Eric Zimmer

  4 shared

• Kathleen Hall-Jamieson

  University of Pennsylvania

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• McQuail Award for the best article advancing communication t…
• 2018 Innovation in Theory Award from the Mass Communication…
• Fellow of the International Communication Association (2017)

Similar researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara

• Ronald E. Riceh-74
• Joe Waltherh-56
• Walid Afifih-42