Soojung (Bella) Kang

Biography

Biography

Soojung Kang, M.A., is a doctoral candidate at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. Her research spans media portrayals in youth and entertainment media, specifically focusing on gender, sexual behaviors, and substance misuse. She is interested in providing insights into how media portrays gender and gendered behaviors and how it may influence youth’s sexual behaviors and substance use. Her recent work about gender portrayals in children’s television programs was featured in Forbes and Elle France.

Education

• M.A., Communication, Washington State University
• B.A., Media Communication, Sungshin Women’s University

Classes Taught

• COM 101 – Media and Society (TA)
• COM 105: Communication in Global Context (TA)
• COM 210: Multimedia Content Creation (Instructor-of-record)
• COM 464 – Gender and the Media (Instructor-of-record)
• COMSOC 321 – Intercultural Communication (TA)
• COMSTRAT 380 – Advertising Principles and Practices (TA)

Research Interests

• Youth media
• Media portrayals
• Gender
• Sexual health
• Health communication

Awards

• 2022, Murrow College Outstanding Ph.D. Student (Contribution to Research) Award
• 2020, Top Paper award, Eastern Communication Association, Health Communication Division

Selected Publications

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Hust, S. J. T., Kang, S., Couto, L., Li, J., & Rodgers, K. B. (2023). Explaining college men’s rape myth acceptance: The role of sports media, masculinity norms & fraternity membership. Journal of Health Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2023.2222077

Willoughby, J. F., Hust, S. J. T., Couto, L., Kang, S., Pingel, B., Li, J., Austin, B. W., Brooks, O., Burduli, E., & Barbosa-Leiker, C. (2023). Examining science and media literacy health communication messages to reduce intentions to use cannabis while pregnant. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000923

Rodgers, K. B., Hust, S. J. T., Li, J., Kang, S., Garcia, A. L. (2023). Sexual scripts and sexual consent: Gender stereotypes, music-media messages, and sexual consent expectancies among college men and women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231165766

Willoughby, J. F., Couto, L., Kang, S., Randall, J., Kirkpatrick, A. W., Lee, D. K. L., Su, Y., Booth, A., & Domgaard, S. (2023). An exploratory content analysis of the use of health communication strategies and presence of objectification in fitness influencer social media posts. Health Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2190248

Willoughby, J. F., Hust, S. J. T., Couto, L., Li, J., Kang, S., Nickerson, C. G., Price, R., & Tlachi‐Munoz, S. (2023). The impact of sexual scripts in brand‐generated cannabis social media posts on sex‐related cannabis expectancies: Does body appreciation moderate effects? Drug & Alcohol Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13642

Kang, S., & Hust, S. J. T. (2022). Traditionally and narrowly defined: Gender roles in television programming targeting babies and 2–4-year-olds. Sex Roles, 86(9/10), 576-586. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-022-01286-1

Couto, L., Hust, S. J. T., Rodgers, K. B., Kang, S., & Li, J. (2022). A content analysis of music lyrics exploring the co-occurrence of violence, sexual content, and degrading terms towards women. Sexuality & Culture, 26, 1965-1980. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-09978-2

Willoughby J. F., Hust, S. J. T., Couto, L., Kang, S., Pingel, B., Li, J., & Barbosa-Leiker, C. (2022). An online mixed methods approach to developing narrative health communication messages. Sage Research Methods: Doing Research Online. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529602197

Willoughby, J. F., Hust, S. J. T., Li, J., Couto, L., Kang, S., & Domgaard, S. (2020). Parents, peers, and pot: An exploratory study of adolescents’ social media sharing of marijuana-related content. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking, 23(9), 642-646. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0721

Book Chapters

Hust, S. J. T., Kang, S., & Couto, L. (In Press). Using narrative-based social norms messaging to affect group norms. In L. M. Orchowski & W. DeJong (Eds.), Health behavior and social norms: Theory, research, and strategies for change. American Psychological Association. *All authors contributed equally to the work.

Conference Presentations

Hust, S. J. T., Couto, L., Kang, S., Willoughby, J. F., Nickerson, C. G., Price, R., & Johnson, O. (2023, April). Alcohol-fueled sexual activity in the media: An integrative model approach to understand its effects on women’s sexual consent negotiation [Paper presentation]. Society for Research on Adolescents conference, San Diego, CA, USA.

Thomas, C., Hust, S. J. T., Willoughby, J. F., Couto, L., Kang, S., Nickerson, C. G., & Price, R. (2023, March). Communicating research across audiences: How to effectively translate academic research to non-academic audiences, stakeholders, and prevention specialists/policymakers [Paper presentation]. Art and Science of Health Promotion conference, Hilton Head Island, SC, USA.

Willoughby, J. F., Hust, S. J. T., Li, J., Couto, L., & Kang, S. (2022, May) Examining the impact of exposure to and perceptions of risky cannabis brand-generated Instagram posts on college students’ sex-related cannabis expectancies and intentions to use cannabis prior to sex [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association (ICA) conference (virtual).

Hust, S. J. T., Kang, S., Couto, L., & Rodgers, K. B. (2021, May). Adherence to sexual stereotypes & sex-related alcohol expectancies: explaining young women’s sexting during the coronavirus pandemic [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association (ICA) conference (virtual).

Couto, L., Hust, S. J. T., Kang, S., & Li, J. (2020, May). An investigation of the co-occurrence of sexual content, violence, and use of derisive terms towards women in music lyrics [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association (ICA) conference (virtual).

Willoughby, J. F., Couto, L., Kang, S., Randall, J., Kirkpatrick, A. W., Lee, D., Su, Y., Booth, A. M., & Domgaard, S. (2020, May). Encouraging action or perceived inadequacy? A content analysis of health and fitness influencers’ Instagram posts [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association (ICA) conference (virtual).

Hust, S. J. T., Kang, S., Couto, L., & Li, J. (2020, August). The association of fraternity membership, sports media, and masculinity norms with college men’s acceptance of rape myths [Paper presentation]. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference (virtual).

Booth, A. M., Lee, D., Kang, S., Xiao, X., Zhao, W.* (2020, April). Testing the integrative model of behavioral prediction to identify the lack of work-life balance and gender role beliefs [Paper presentation]. Eastern Communication Association (ECA) conference, Baltimore, MD, USA. (Awarded Top Paper in Health Communication Division). *All authors contributed equally to the work.

Hust, S. J. T., Rodgers, K. B., Kang, S., & Lutovsky, R. (2020, March). Televised teen dating violence: Making sense of youth’s responses to teen dating violence in a reality TV program [Paper presentation]. Society for Research on Adolescence conference, San Diego, CA, USA.

Willoughby, J. F., Hust, S. J. T., Li, J., Couto, L., Kang, S., & Domgaard, S. (2019, August). Parents, peers, and pot: Adolescents’ social media sharing of marijuana-related content [Paper presentation]. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference, Toronto, Canada.

Kang, S., & Hust, S. J. T. (2019, May). Traditionally and narrowly defined: Gender roles in television programming targeting babies and 2–4-year-olds [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association (ICA) conference, Washington, D.C, USA.

Booth, A. M., Kang, S., Khan, H., Muldrow, A., Xiao, X., Zhao, W., Tan, A.* (2017, August). Digital vs. print: Comprehension and persuasion effects in reading news stories and editorials [Paper presentation]. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference, Chicago, IL, USA. *All authors contributed equally to the work.