Yen-I Lee

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Media Psychophysiology and Neuroscience

Media Psychology

Health Crisis and Risk Communication

Strategic Public Relations

Dr. Yen-I Lee (Ph.D.) is an assistant professor at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication within the Department of Strategic Communication. She is also the Co-Director of Murrow Media Mind Lab. Her primary research is in the areas of health communication and strategic communication, focusing on the role of emotional appeals, visuals, narratives, and technology use in the message design for health crisis and risk campaign messages. Her research objective is to theoretically and practically advance the development of brain-friendly content and technology for positive effects in the fields of health communication and strategic public relations. Dr. Lee accomplishes this through her expertise in the Media Psychophysiology and Neuroscience paradigm specializing in valid applications of physiological indicators such as eye-tracking, EDA (electrodermal activity), heart rate, and facial EMG, in Media Processes and Effects research.  Her research has been published in Mass Communication and Society, Journal of Applied Communication Research, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Health Marketing Quarterly, Social Marketing Quarterly, Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, Communication Studies, Media Psychology, and Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Selected publications represent a small sample of research. Additional sample publications are available upon request by email (yen-i.lee@wsu.edu) or can be found on Dr. Yen-I Lee’s Google Scholar profile (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=w_gE4yEAAAAJ&hl=en) or her ResearchGate profile (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yen-I-Lee)

Refereed Journal Articles

Lee, YI., Lee, Y. J., & Bolls, P. (Forthcoming, Special Issue). Media psychophysiology and strategic communications: A scientific paradigm for advancing theory and research grounded in evolutionary psychology. International Journal of Strategic Communication.

Lee, YI., Hsu, Y., Puha, J., Wu, T-Y., & Hachman, S. (Forthcoming). Encouraging positive dialog toward COVID-19 vaccines on social media using hope appeals, celebrity types, and emoticons. Mass Communication and Society.

Lee, Y. J., Lee, YI., & Thomas, C. N. (Forthcoming). Increasing empathetic responses to mental health awareness-social media campaign: Role of model race and groupness cue in targeting Asian Americans. Journal of Interactive Advertising.

Lee, YI., Lu, X., Voges, T., & Jin, Y. (2023). Fending off unverified accusation with narratives: The role of primary and secondary narratives in organizational response effectiveness in an ongoing crisis. Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, 6(1), 33-64. https://doi.org/10.30658/jicrcr.6.1.2

Lee, YI., Wojdynski, B. W., Keib, K., Jefferson, B. N., Malson, J. L., & Jun, H. (2022). Image framing, emoticons, and sharing intention for health-related posts on Facebook. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 25(2),140-146. DOI:10.1089/cyber.2021.0002

Lee, YI., Lu, X., & Jin, Y. (2021). Uncertainty management in organizational crisis communication: The impact of crisis responsibility uncertainty and attribution-based emotions on publics’ further crisis information seeking. Journal of Communication Management, 25(4), 437-453.https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-02-2021-0018

Jin, Y., Lee, YI., Liu, B. F., Austin, L., & Kim, S. (2021). How college students access the threat of Infectious diseases: Implications for university leaders and health communicators. Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, 4(1), 129-164. https://doi.org/10.30658/jicrcr.4.1.5

Lee, YI., Phua, J., & Wu, T. Y. (2020). Marketing a health brand on Facebook: Effects of reaction icons and user comments on brand attitude, trust, purchase intention, and eWOM intention. Health Marketing Quarterly, 37(2),138-154. DOI:10.1080/07359683.2020.1754049

Liu, B., Lucinda, A., Lee, YI., Jin, Y., & Kim, S. (2020). Telling the tale: The role of narratives in helping people respond to crises. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 48(3),328-349. DOI:10.1080/00909882.2020.1756377

Lee, YI., Zhang, Y., Jin, Y., Kim, S., Martin, E.F., & Smith, J. J. (2019). Opening the mind’s eye: The pivotal role of sympathy in depression coverage effectiveness. Communication Studies, 70(5), 633-653.DOI:10.1080/10510974.2019.1650086

Han, J. Y., Kim, E., Lee, YI., Shah, D., & Gustafson, D. (2019). A longitudinal investigation of empathic exchanges in online cancer support groups: Message reception and expression effects on patients’ psychosocial health outcomes. Journal of Health Communication, 24(6), 615-623. DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2019.1644401

Lee, YI., & Jin, Y. (2019). Crisis information seeking and sharing (CISS): Scale development for measuring publics’ communicative behavior in social-mediated public health crises. Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, 2(1), 13-38. https://doi.org/10.30658/jicrcr.2.1.2

Lee, YI., Jin, Y., &Nowak, G. (2018). Motivating influenza vaccination among young adults: The effects of public service advertising message framing and text versus image support. Social Marketing Quarterly, 24(2),89-103. doi.org/10.1177/1524500418771283

Keib, K., Espina, C., Lee, YI., Wojdynski, B.W., Choi, D., & Bang, H. (2018). Picture this: The influence of emotionally valenced images, on attention, selection, and sharing of social media news. Media Psychology, 21(2), 202-221. DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2017.1378108

Book Chapter

Austin, L., van der Meer, T., Lee, YI., & Spangler, J. (2021). Managing misinformation and conflicting information: A framework for understanding misinformation and rumor. In Y. Jin, B. H. Reber & G. J. Nowak (Eds.), Advancing Crisis Communication Effectiveness: Integrating Public Relations Scholarship with Practice (pp. 113-129). Routledge.

TEACHING INTERESTS

Health Communication

Media Psychophysiology

Media Psychology

Strategic Communication

Crisis and Risk Communication

Persuasion Communication

Experimental Design

Dr. Yen-I Lee teaches Health Communication, Crisis Communication, Public Management and Campaign Design, and Research Methods in the online and offline formats for undergraduate and graduate levels. Her teaching has employed a client-based structure to help students understand concepts of public relations, health communication, and crisis communication as well as research principles and skills related to real health, public relations, and crisis situations. Throughout the hands-on project-driven learning process, students gain the ability to apply theoretical concepts to solve real-world problems and provide insightful recommendations for current and future clients.

PERSONAL BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Yen-I Lee earned her Ph.D. from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. She has a passion for mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students through research experiences. She grew up in Taiwan. She likes outdoor (e.g., hiking, traveling) and indoor (e.g., listening to concerts, watching movies) activities.