Research & Scholarship

Exploring how media shapes who we become and how we relate to one another.

My scholarship sits at the intersection of media psychology, identity, aspiration, and human connection. I conduct and apply research to understand how the media we consume influences what we value, who we aspire to become, and how we engage with others.

Contact Dr. Corey

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Featured Research

The #BlackExcellence Mindset

Black Media Consumers’ Perceptions about Aspirations and Black Macro-Level Influencers

Doctoral Dissertation | Fielding Graduate University | 2020

This study examined how Black Americans define success, how they form psychological connections with successful Black public figures, and how those relationships influence their aspirations.

▤ Download Full Dissertation (PDF) Cite This Work

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“Who shapes the Black American Dream?”

My research explored how Black Americans define success and how the Black celebrities we admire influence our aspirations.

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Research Questions

›How do Black media consumers define success and aspiration?
›How do they form relationships with Black public figures?
›How do these relationships influence their goals and behaviors?

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Methods

›Quantitative, cross-sectional survey design
›205 Black/African American adults (ages 18–65)
›Measures: aspirations, parasocial interaction, perceived similarity, racial identification, and behavioral emulation

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Key Findings

›Participants aspired most to image and community feeling, followed by financial success and personal growth.
›Perceived similarity and parasocial interaction were significant positive predictors of efforts to become more like the identified celebrity.
›Racial identification was a negative predictor.

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