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Rebecca Frazer

Rebecca Frazer

Assistant Professor - Department of Public Relations

Office: 2066B Weimer

Phone: 352-294-6380

Email: r.frazer@ufl.edu

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Rebecca Frazer

Assistant Professor - Department of Public Relations


Rebecca Frazer (Ph.D., MPA, The Ohio State University) is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Relations. She is a media psychology researcher, focusing on how people process and respond to story-form (narrative) media. Her work has examined psychological processing of narratives in a variety of contexts, including entertainment television, online news, terrorist propaganda, and social media testimonials. She is particularly interested in people’s experiences of enjoyment, appreciation, social learning, persuasion, and coercion as they relate to narrative exposure.

Frazer primarily conducts experimental research, and much of her work incorporates principles of moral psychology as a lens for understanding human responses to narrative. Frazer has published work in top communication, psychology, and marketing journals, including Journal of Communication, Media Psychology, New Media & Society, Mass Communication & Society, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Journal of Public Policy & Marketing.

Frazer is an award-winning instructor and has taught courses in strategic communication, persuasion, research methods, media and terrorism, and global social change communication. She also has professional experience in public relations and communications consulting, with a focus on non-profit and government communication.

Areas of Expertise

Media Psychology, Narrative Media, Persuasion, Moral Psychology, Media and Extremism, Humanization/Dehumanization in Media, Media and Public Policy Attitudes

Areas of Expertise

Media Psychology and Media Effects, Political Communication, Social Advocacy and Social Change, Strategic Communication

Education

Ph.D., Communication, The Ohio State University
Master of Public Administration, The Ohio State University
B.A., Communication (Public Relations); Political Science (International Affairs), Asbury University

News

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

Frazer, R., & Grizzard, M. (2024). Reconceptualizing selective moral disengagement mechanisms as continuums of moral influence: A theoretical expansion. Communication Theory, 34(2), 92–105. DOI: 10.1093/ct/qtae007

Fitzgerald, K., Francemone, C., Green, M., Grizzard, M., & Frazer, R. (2023). The Emotional Flow Scale: Validating a measure of dynamic emotional experiences in message reception. Media Psychology, 26(6), 790-811. DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2023.2215447

Grizzard, M., Francemone, C. J., Frazer, R., Fitzgerald, K., Monge, C., & Henry, C. (2023). A comprehensive experimental test of the affective disposition theory of drama. Journal of Communication, 73(4), 289–303. DOI: 10.1093/joc/jqac053

Grizzard, M., Frazer, R., & Monge, C. (Accepted). Demystifying Schadenfreude: How disposition theorizing explains responses to social media stories of unvaccinated COVID-19 deaths. New Media & Society. DOI: 10.1177/14614448231184868

Frazer, R., Grizzard, M., Francemone, C. J., Fitzgerald, K., & Henry, C. (2023). Character individuation and disposition formation: An experimental exploration. Media Psychology, 26(2), 172-200 . DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2022.211389

Frazer, R., & Moyer-Guse, E. (2023). Engaging the dark side: Exploring identification with morally complex antagonists. Mass Communication and Society, 26(2), 177-200 . DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2021.1968436

Frazer, R. (2023). Marketing against extremism: Identifying and responding to moral disengagement cues in Islamic State terrorist propaganda. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 42(1), 36-55. DOI: 10.1177/07439156221096394

Frazer, R. (2022). Experimental operationalizations of anthropomorphism in HCI contexts: A scoping review. Communication Reports, 35(3), 173-189. DOI: 10.1080/08934215.2022.2108472

Frazer, R., Moyer-Guse, E., & Grizzard, M. (2022). Moral disengagement cues and consequences for victims in entertainment narratives: An experimental investigation. Media Psychology, 25(4), 619-637. DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2022.2034020

Knobloch-Westerwick, S., Robinson, M., Frazer, R., & Schutz, E. (2021). “Affective news” and attitudes: A multi-topic experiment of attitude impacts from political news and fiction. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 98(4), 1078-1103. DOI: 10.1177/1077699020932883

Frazer, R., Robinson, M., & Knobloch-Westerwick, S. (2021). Narratives’ impacts on attitudes: Do signaling of persuasive intent and fictionality matter?. Communication Studies, 72(3), 347-365. DOI: 10.1080/10510974.2021.1876127

Courses