Barbara J. Wilson
Contact Information
Office: 217 Swanlund
Telephone: (217) 333-6677
Email: bjwilson@illinois.edu
Professor; Vice Provost for Academic Affairs;Kathryn Lee Baynes Dallenbach Professor
Bio
Professor Wilson’s research focuses on the social and psychological effects of the media, particularly on youth. She is co-author of Children, Adolescents, and the Media (Sage Publications, 2002; second edition, 2009) and three book volumes of the National Television Violence Study (Sage Publications, 1997-1998). In addition, she has published more than 60 scholarly articles and chapters on media effects and their implications for media policy. Recent projects focus on preschoolers’ attachment to media characters, parents’ and children’s fright reactions to kidnapping stories in the news, and children’s attraction to media violence. She has served as a research consultant for Nickelodeon, the National Association of Television Program Executives, Discovery Channel Pictures, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Curriculum Vitae
Experience
- Social and psychological effects of mass media; developmental differences in children’s responses to mass media; children’s emotional and cognitive processing of mass media; impact of media violence; media policy implications of social science research.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Madison
Selected Publications
Wilson, B. J., & Drogos, K. L. (in press). Children and adolescents: Distinctive audiences of media content. In R. Nabi & M. B. Oliver (Eds.), Handbook of media effects. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Wilson, B. J. (2008). Media and children's aggression, fear, and altruism. The Future of Children, 18(1), 87-118.
Wilson, B. J. (2008). Media violence and youth aggression. In S. L. Calvert & B. J. Wilson (Eds.), Handbook of children, media, and development (pp. 237-267). Boston, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Wilson, B. J. (2007). Designing media messages about health and nutrition: What strategies are most effective? Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 39, S13-S19.
Wilson, B. J., & Martins, N. (2006). The impact of violent music on youth. In N. Dowd, D. G. Singer, & R. F. Wilson (Eds.) Handbook of children, culture, & violence (pp. 179-202). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Wilson, B. J., Martins, N., & Marske, A. (2005). Children’s and parents’ fright reactions to kidnapping stories in the news. Communication Monographs, 72, 46-70.
Cantor, J., & Wilson, B. J. (2003). Media and violence: Intervention strategies for reducing aggression. Media Psychology, 5, 363-406.