Research indicates culture plays a big part in consumer responses when experiencing advertising Ads. Research suggests that making the consumer feel a perception of belonging and being valued can cause a more positive outcome for the advertisement. Additionally, some advertisement strategies include models of certain ethnicities to create customers' feelings of belonging. There is a need for research that explores the perspective inclusiveness of different Ads among different cultures. In this study, we explore further the role of viewers' ethnicity (i.e., Caucasian VS Hispanic/Black/Asian/Native American) in the perception of inclusiveness. This study will use experimental methods where we will show participants different Ads and rate perceived inclusiveness. This study aims to see how perceived inclusiveness is related to attitude toward the Ads.

The meaning of mental health can be different based on one’s background and culture. This study focuses on Oromo community leaders' perspectives on mental health in the Twin Cities. The study focused on learning mental health definitions, how people recognize if they have mental health symptoms or if others have them, how common it is to talk about mental health in the community, what barriers prevent individuals from getting mental health services, how people treat someone with mental health issues and solutions to mental health issues for this community. Qualitative methods (in-depth interviews) were utilized to collect the perspectives of eight Oromo leaders on mental health in the community. The participants, all of whom have college degrees or above, are from various regions of Oromia, Ethiopia. Their age range is from 30 to 65. They practice Christianity, Islam, and Wakefana (the traditional Oromo religion). The leaders define mental health as being emotionally unwell, having psychological problems, and something shameful to discuss. Due to the widespread stigma associated with mental health, many in this community avoid discussing it. Culture shock, the migration experience, lack of services, loneliness, and postpartum depression in mothers are causes of mental health difficulties for Oromo immigrants in the Twin Cities. Language, culture, and fear of losing their reputation in the community are the barriers that prevent individuals from receiving proper treatment. Education about mental health in the community, culturally appropriate services, training leaders to promote awareness, and media are proposed as solutions.

Comparing oneself to others on social networking sites occurs frequently and impacts individual users’ perceptions of themselves. Two common comparisons users engage in while using social media are upward and downward comparisons. Upward comparisons, linked to adverse outcomes, involve comparing oneself to someone viewed as ‘better’ than oneself (e.g., more popular, more attractive). Contrarily, downward comparison, linked to positive outcomes, is comparing oneself to one’s ‘inferior’ (e.g., poorer, more unattractive). However, current research does not examine if social media comparison among those in romantic relationships impacts a user’s perceptions about their relationship and overall relationship satisfaction. Additionally, the effects of social media use are compounded by whether users interact with social media actively or passively. Active use, linked to positive outcomes, involves interacting with others via social media, such as liking or commenting on posts or direct messaging. Passive use, linked to adverse effects, is the act of scrolling and looking at others’ posts with no interaction. We will conduct our survey on the Qualtrics system and recruit 150-200 individuals and their romantic partners. Our survey is composed of open-ended questions and Likert scales to measure passive/active use, motivations for social media use, romantic relationship comparison, and relationship satisfaction. We will then examine if individuals compare their romantic relationships to other romantic relationships they view on social networking sites. Finally, we will focus on whether active or passive social media use affects social comparisons and if comparison with others’ romantic relationships relates to their overall relationship satisfaction.

The Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS) measures the internalization of objectification using three subscales: body surveillance, body shame, and control beliefs. The OBCS was validated with a homogenous participant sample of primarily White women. Previous research found that women of color engage in less body surveillance than White women, and that body surveillance predicts body shame; the control beliefs subscale is largely understudied. These findings open the door to a critique of the scale’s generalizability. Our objective is to interrogate the OBCS’ central arguments from a feminist, multicultural perspective using hip-hop as a sociocultural context. Hip-hop is simultaneously objectifying and countercultural and may set its female consumers on an alternate trajectory than the OBCS suggests. In this exploratory study, we employ a content analysis approach to investigate the kind of body surveillance that popular hip-hop music engenders. We use YouTube comments to explore the presence of body shame and control beliefs in consumers of hip-hop. There are no a priori predictions about which dimension of the OBCS is most prevalent. However, because hip-hop content often seeks to raise the esteem of the racialized body, we predict that a type of control belief may emerge that is different from what is in the original scale; one that promotes body empowerment in consumers rather than maladaptive behaviors (e.g., eating disorders). Such results would give rise to a reinterpretation of control beliefs and generate future research.