Samuel Hughes

Samuel Hughes serves as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Emporia State University, a position he assumed in 2023. He instructs undergraduate students in social psychology, research methods, and statistics.

Hughes conducts research in human sexuality, diversity, and intersectionality, with a focus on LGBTQ communities and kink/BDSM practices. His interdisciplinary work investigates how sexuality intersects with mental health, social attitudes, institutions, and identity formation through mixed-methods approaches.

He founded and directs the DESIRE Lab (Diversity, Equity, Social Identity, Relationships, and Eroticism), which actively recruits undergraduate researchers. Media coverage of his scholarship includes Vice, Psychology Today, Insider, Dan Savage’s Savage Lovecast, and Cosmopolitan.