Texas Tech University

Eric E Rasmussen

Professor & Chair
Public Relations & Strategic Communication Management

Email: eric.rasmussen@ttu.edu

Phone: +1.806.834.6870

Research: Social media, Health, Interpersonal, Children and media

Office:
 213

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Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2013
M.A. Brigham Young University, 2004

Eric E. Rasmussen

Research

Dr. Rasmussen's research focuses on children and media. He is specifically interested in parental mediation and why/how parent-child conversations about the media influence children at different developmental stages in various ways. Dr. Rasmussen has authored or co-authored articles that have appeared in some of the top academic journals in the fields of communication and child development, such as Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Journal of Children and Media, Media Psychology, Child Development, and Developmental Psychology, among others. His research has also been presented at conferences for the Society for Research in Child Development, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, International Communication Association, and International Public Relations Research Conference.

 

Methodologies

  • Content Analysis
  • Experiment
  • Survey

Research Areas

  • Social media
  • Health communication
  • Interpersonal communication
  • Children and media

Selected Publications

  • Rasmussen, E. E., Strouse, G. A., Colwell, M. J., Russo, C., Holiday, S., Brady, K. , Flores, I. , Troseth, G., Wright, H. , Densley, R.*, & Norman, M. (2019). Promoting preschoolers' emotional competence through prosocial TV and mobile app use. Media Psychology, 22, 1-22.

  • Rasmussen, E. E., & Densley, R. L. (2017). Girl in a country song: Gender roles and objectification of women in popular country music across 1990 to 2014. Sex Roles3, 188-201.

  • Rasmussen, E. E., Keene, J. R., Berke, C. K., Densley, R. L. & , Loof, T. (2017). Explaining parental coviewing: The role of social facilitation and arousal. Communication Monographs3, 365-384.

  • Coyne, S. M., Redesky, J., Collier, K M., Gentile, D. A., James, C., Linder, J. R., Nathanson, A. I., Rasmussen, E. E., Reich, S. M., & Rogers, J. (2017). Family, parenting, and media: The current state and future of the field. Pediatrics, 140, S112.

  • Rasmussen, E. E., Shafer, A., Colwell, M. J., White, S. R., Punyanunt-Carter, N., Densley, R. L., & Wright, H. (2016). Relation between active mediation, exposure to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and U.S. preschoolers' social and emotional development. Journal of Children and Media10, 443-461.

  • Collier, K. M., Coyne, S. M., Rasmussen, E. E., Hawkins, A. J., Padilla-Walker, L. M., Erickson, S. E., & Memmott-Elison, M. K. (2016). Does parental mediation of media influence child outcomes? A meta-analysis on media time, content, aggression, substance use, and sexual behavior. Developmental Psychology52, 798-812.

  • Rasmussen, E. E., & Ewoldsen, D. R. (2016). Treatment via television: The relation between watching Dr. Phil and parasocial patients' intentions to seek mental health treatment. Journal of Health Communication6, 611-619.

  • Rasmussen, E. E., Rhodes, N., Ortiz, R. R., & White, S. R. (2016). The relation between norm accessibility, pornography use, and parental mediation among emerging adults. Media Psychology, 19, 431-454.

  • Rasmussen, E. E., Ortiz, R. R., & White, S. R. (2015). Emerging adults' responses to active mediation of pornography during adolescence. Journal of Children and Media, 9, 160-176.Rasmussen, E. E. (2014).  Proactive vs. reactive media mediation: Effects of mediation's timing on children's reactions to popular cartoon violence. Human Communication Research, 40, 396-413

Teaching Focus

My objective is to create a learning environment in which students become sensitive to and engage with the socializing influence of contemporary, ubiquitous communication media, such as television, the Internet, and parent-child communication. Such a learning environment will help students critically evaluate and assimilate communication phenomena in a way that will influence their thought processes, approach to relationships, time management choices, media choices and approach to learning.

  • Graduate Seminar: Children and Media
  • Graduate Seminar: Communication Theory
  • Public Relations Graphics & Production
  • Principles of Public Relations
  • Public Relations Writing
  • History of Communication
  • Mass Communication Theory

Leadership & Awards

  • Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Children and Media
  • 2018 Best Published Article Award; Children, Adolescents, and Media Division, International Communication Association: Relation between active mediation, exposure to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and U.S. preschoolers' social and emotional development.
  • 2017 New Faculty Award, Texas Tech Alumni Association
  • 2016 The Billy I. Ross Mass Communications Faculty Achievement Award, College of Media & Communication, Texas Tech University
  • 2016 Outstanding Researcher of the Year (Barnie Rushing Jr., Faculty Distinguished Research Award), College of Media & Communication, Texas Tech University