Abstract: Sexual minorities have been found more likely to report poorer health outcomes (e.g., greater anxiety, depression, lower acceptance) and greater social media usage than their heterosexual counterparts. While it is generally accepted they utilize social media in beneficial manners, including information-seeking, following and interacting with LGBTQ+ media personae, and connecting with other LGBTQ+ individuals for social support and community connection, less is understood about the specific roles and processes behind beneficial LGBTQ+ social media usage. The goal of this dissertation was to better understand the relationship between social media usage and well-being within the LGBTQ+ community through Uses and Gratifications Theory and the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis, examining the roles of social media gratifications and parasocial relationships on reducing feelings of prejudice (societal, CH; personal, IH) and increasing online social connectedness (OSC) and positive psychological outcomes (PPO; self-acceptance and well-being). A sample of 182 sexual minority adults completed an online survey including measures of browsing/variety-seeking (BVS), parasocial interactions (PSI) and relationships (PSR), perceived similarity (SIM), CH, IH, OSC, and PPO. Both the hypothesized model and alternative model were tested via structural equation modeling. Overall, support was mixed for the hypothesized model: greater BVS predicted greater PSI, which then predicted greater SIM, which then predicted greater PSR. However, greater PSR predicted greater (as opposed to lesser) CH, which then predicted greater IH, which then predicted less OSC, while OSC did not predict PPO in any manner. More support was found for an alternative model with better statistical fit and support from the literature. The findings provide insights into LGBTQ+ social media usage and well-being, extending the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis to intrapersonal contexts, examining gratifications from Uses and Gratifications Theory 1.0 and 2.0 working together, and identifying healthy social media usage for LGBTQ+ individuals. Future work should be longitudinal and socio-demographically diverse to help better understand for whom and for when this type of social media usage is beneficial for sexual minorities. The present findings also shield light on surprising roles CH plays with PSRs and PPO, findings that should be investigated more fully in future work.

This event is the oral defense of "Bipolarity Redux: Asymmetry, Russia's Neo-Eurasianist Project, and Ideology-Induced International Change," submitted for the degree of PhD in Political Science.

Advancements in Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling with Applications to Behavioral Health Studies. (Statistics)

Kangkang Zhang from the Accounting Department of the Business School will hold the dissertation defense on May 28 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM in the Boardroom of the Business Building. The paper is titled "SEC Investigations of Public Pensions" and examines the effects of SEC scrutiny on public pension functioning.