Theory Development and Evaluation Within a Critical Media Effects Framework: An Intersectional Identity Approach to Media Psychology

Abstract. Investigating the role of identity in mediated experiences involves a great deal of complexity. However, media psychologists all too often explore the antecedents and consequences of identity in ways that less than optimally grapple with this complexity. In this essay, we build on the critical media effects (CME) approach to offer innovative ways to theorize about intersectionality within media psychology scholarship. We apply and elaborate on an intersectional approach to identity within media psychology to advance our understanding of media experiences within three key areas: media selectivity, media use, and media effects. We provide recommendations and salient examples for using critical media effects theorizing to examine intersectionality and better realize the complex dynamism of social identity.