Matea Mustafaj

Matea Mustafaj is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on how narrative and entertainment media shape social cognition, beliefs, and psychological well-being through mechanisms like character engagement and narrative structure. She examines both prosocial outcomes (empathy enhancement, prejudice reduction) and potential harms (stereotype reinforcement, disengagement).

Education: PhD in Communication and Media from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and a BS in Neuroscience, Psychology, and Philosophy from the same institution's College of Literature, Science, & the Arts.

Research interests include media psychology, communication theory, and the dual roles of media in fostering empathy versus perpetuating bias. Recent work explores how preexisting beliefs influence reception of counter-stereotypical narratives, sleep-media interactions' political effects, and philanthropy in gaming contexts.

Publications span topics like stereotype resistance in media consumption, cultivation theory extensions, and physiological correlates of anti-immigrant attitudes. Her work appears in Media Psychology, Journal of Media Psychology, and New Media & Society.