Muniba Saleem

Muniba Saleem is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Iowa State University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research focuses on how media representations influence intergroup relations, particularly among racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.

Her work examines the effects of media depictions on minority group members' psychological well-being, political outcomes, and collective action. Recent studies explore the longitudinal impacts of media exposure on Muslim American adolescents and the role of counter-speech in mitigating online hate directed toward minorities. Dr. Saleem’s research is funded by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and Facebook.

Key research areas include media effects on identity formation, intergroup attitudes, and the psychological consequences of negative portrayals. Her findings highlight bidirectional relationships between media consumption and identity, as well as the societal implications of media framing on policies and social cohesion.

Notable contributions include meta-analytic reviews of media portrayal impacts, experimental studies on aggression and prosocial behavior, and longitudinal analyses of media’s role in shaping minority group responses to discrimination.