Ian Hawkins studies the role of media in influencing inter/intragroup relations using social scientific methods. His research applies an interdisciplinary lens to study two questions. First, how far-right messaging on social media strengthens White identity and upholds structural racism. Second, how stereotypical representations of marginalized groups in American media cultivate negative attitudes and support for discriminatory policies. These two lines approach research from an intergroup perspective to understand how digital content interacts with social and political identities to reinforce attitudes that support existing group hierarchies. Currently, he is using longitudinal and experimental methods to examine how exposure to pro-White themes in digital media are influencing willingness to participate in collective actions that exclusively benefit White Americans in the real world. Dr. Hawkins has recently published in journals such as New Media and Society, Journal of Communication, Communication Research, and Psychology of Popular Media.
