Department
Department of Media and Communication
Phone
+1 (210) 9998598
Email Address
serickso@trinity.edu
Location
Dorothy A. and James W. Laurie Auditorium
Room
355
Headshot of Sarah Erickson

Sarah Erickson is a media psychologist broadly interested in adolescent engagement with the media, narratives surrounding gendered violence in the media, and sexual socialization. She has also done work examining the impact of changing viewing habits, like binge watching, on media effects. Dr. Erickson teaches courses on Media Audiences, Quantitative Research Methods, and Media and Gender-based Violence. Dr. Erickson is also co-director of the minor in Women's and Gender Studies at Trinity. She is originally from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and previously studied Art & Archeology at Princeton University before earning her Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Michigan.

Education

  • A.B., Princeton University
  • Ph.D, University of Michigan

Selected Publications

  • Erickson, S.E. Dal Cin, S., & Byl, H. (2019). An experimental examination of binge watching, transportation, and parasocial relationships. Social Sciences.
  • Erickson, S.E. & Dal Cin, S. (2018). Romantic parasocial attachments and the development of romantic scripts, schemas and beliefs among adolescents. Media Psychology, 21(1): 111-136.
  • Erickson, S.E. Harrison, K., & Dal Cin, S. (2018). Toward a multi-dimensional model of adolescent romantic parasocial attachments. Communication Theory, 28(30): 376-399.
  • Ward, L.M, Erickson, S.E., Giaccardi, S., & Lippman, J. (2016). Sexual media content and effects. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Subjects Taught

  • Media Audiences
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Children, Adolescents & Media
  • Media and Gendered Violence
  • Media Effects

Teaching and Expertise

  • Media Psychology
  • Gendered Violence
  • Adolescent Sexual Socialization
  • Parasocial Relationships