Catalina Toma

Communication Science

Professor

6144 Vilas Hall

Catalina Toma

Expertise and Activities

My research examines how people understand and relate to one another when interacting via communication technologies (e.g., online dating, social network sites, mobile computing, artificial intelligence). I focus on the impact of communication technologies on self and relationships, examining processes such as self-presentation and impression formation, deception and trust, self-worth, self-esteem and psychological well-being, interpersonal attraction, and relationship development. I am also interested in how language is produced and interpreted in computer-mediated contexts.

I am currently Associate Editor at Computers in Human Behaviors. I am past Associate Editor at Human Communication Research, the flagship journal of the International Communication Association, and at Journal of Media Psychology.

I hold affiliations with the Department of Educational Psychology, School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Mass Communication Research Center, and the Institute for Diversity Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Education

Ph.D. Cornell University, 2010
M.S. Cornell University, 2006
B.A. University of Bridgeport, 2004

Honors/Awards

Romnes Award for Research Excellence, 2022
Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, 2022
Honored Instructor, Chadbourne Residential College, 2020
Teaching Academy Faculty Fellow, 2018
Top Paper, National Communication Association, Health Communication Division, 2014
Honored Instructor, Chadbourne Residential College, 2013
Honored Instructor, Chadbourne Residential College, 2012
Honored Instructor, Chadbourne Residential College, 2011
Top Faculty Paper, International Communication Association, Communication & Technology Division, 2009
Honorable Mention, Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), 2008
Anson Rowe Award, Field of Communication, Cornell University, 2008
Top Paper, International Conference on Communities and Technologies, 2007
Top Student Paper, International Communication Association, Communication & Technology Division, 2007
Honorable Mention, Computer-Human Interaction (CHI), 2007

Selected Publications

For a complete list of my publications, please see my Google Scholar page.

2025 (accepted). The combined well-being effects of social media activities: How self-affirmation can buffer against upward social comparisons on Instagram. Human Communication Research.
2025 (in press). Social media and identity development. In T. Reimer, L. van Swol., & A. Florack (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Communication and Social Cognition. Routledge/Taylor and Francis.
2025 (online first). Media task-switching as self-control failure: Two experimental Studies. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications.
2025 (online first). The role of friendship maintenance over communication technologies in freshmen’s social adjustment to college. Journal of American College Health.
2024. Does Facebook use provide social benefits to adults with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)? Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
2024. To text or talk in person?: How young adults in dating relationships use media affordances for mundane talk, difficult conversations, and breakups. Media Psychology.
2022. An experiment on the effects of self-disclosure on perceived partner responsiveness and intimacy in zero-acquaintance relationships. Communication Studies.
2022. International students’ psychological wellbeing and social media use at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: A latent profile analysis. Computers in Human Behavior.
2023. Social media self-presentation and emotion: Evidence of selective self-presentation, self-affirmation, and social sharing processes. In R. Nabi & J. Myrick (Eds.) Our online emotional selves: The link between digital media and emotional experience, (pp. 257-277) Oxford University Press.
2022. Online dating and psychosocial wellbeing: A social compensation perspective. Current Opinion in Psychology.
2022. Understanding mechanisms of media use for the social sharing of emotion: The role of media affordances and habitual media use. Journal of Media Psychology.
2021. Computer-Mediated Communication in Adults with and without Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Survey of Social Media Use. Journal of Medical Internet Research: Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies, 8(3): e26586.
2021. The effects of online social connectedness on older adults’ depressive symptoms: Evidence from a two-wave cross-lagged panel study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(1) e21275.
2021. Problematic Internet use, subjective mental well-being, and perceived parental supportiveness among adolescents: A moderation analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research – Mental Health, 8(9): e26203.
2020. Youth social media and well-being. In D. Ewoldsen, M. L. Mares, & E. Scarrrer (Eds.) The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology, John Wiley & Sons.
2020. When do online audiences amplify the benefits of self-disclosure? The role of audience similarity and interactivity. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media,64, 277-297.
2020. How does social media use relate to adolescents’ internalizing symptoms?: Conclusions from a systematic narrative review. Adolescent Research Review, 5, 381 – 404.
2019. “Depression as a predictor of Facebook surveillance and envy: Evidence from a cross-lagged panel study in Germany.” Journal of Media Psychology.
2018. Connection, conflict, and communication technologies: How romantic couples use the media for relationship management. In Z. Papacharissi (Ed.) A Networked Self: Love (pp. 78-101). Routledge.
2018. “What do you say before you relapse? How language use within a peer-to-peer online discussion forum predicts risky drinking among those in recovery.” Health Communication, 22, 1184-1193.
2018. “Lies in the eye of the beholder: The intensifying effect of media on self-other asymmetries regarding deception.” Communication Research.
2017. “Breakup-related sharing over interpersonal media: Patterns and effects on psychological well-being.” Journal of Media Psychology, 29, 166-172.
2016. “There are plenty of fish in the sea: Effects of choice overload and reversibility on online daters’ satisfaction with selected partners.” Media Psychology, forthcoming.
2016. “Mobile media matters: Hyperpersonal idealization and relationship satisfaction among geographically close dating couples.” Proceedings of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).
2015. “The couple who Facebooks together, stays together: Facebook self-presentation and relational longevity among college-aged dating couples.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking, 18, 367 – 372, http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2015.0060.
2015. “When social media isn’t social: Friends’ responsiveness to narcissists on Facebook.” Personality and Individual Differences, 77, 209 – 214, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886914007843.
2015. “How do Facebook users think they come across in their profiles?: A meta-perception approach to Facebook self-presentation.” Communication Research Reports, 32, 93-101, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08824096.2014.990557#.VLag6P50yXg.
2015. “Tell-tale words: Linguistic cues used to infer the expertise of online medical advice.” Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 34, 25-45, http://jls.sagepub.com/content/34/1/25.
2014. “Towards conceptual convergence: An examination of interpersonal adaptation.” Communication Quarterly, 62, 155-178.
2014. “Counting on friends: Cues to perceived trustworthiness in Facebook profiles.” Proceedings of the International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (ICWSM), 495-504, http://www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/ICWSM/ICWSM14/paper/viewPDFInterstitial/8044/8….
2014. “Social sharing through interpersonal media: Patterns and effects on emotional well-being.” Computers in Human Behavior, 36, 530-541.
2013. “Feeling better but doing worse: Effects of Facebook self-presentation on implicit self-esteem and cognitive task performance.” Media Psychology, 16, 199-220.
2013. “Self-affirmation underlies Facebook use.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 321 – 331.
2012. “What lies beneath: The linguistic traces of deception in online dating profiles.” Journal of Communication, 62, 78-97.
2012. “Profile as promise: A framework for conceptualizing the veracity of self-presentation in online dating profiles.” New Media & Society, 14, 45-62.
2010. “Looks and lies: The role of physical attractiveness in online dating self-presentation.” Communication Research, 37, 335-351.
2010. “Perceptions of trustworthiness online: The role of visual and verbal information.” In proceedings of Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), 13-22.
2009. “Putting your best face forward: The accuracy of online dating profile photographs.” Journal of Communication, 59, 367-386.
2008. “Separating fact from fiction: Deceptive self-presentation in online dating profiles.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1023-1036.
2008. “I know something you don’t: The use of asymmetric personal information for interpersonal advantage.” In proceedings of Computer-Supported Collaborative Work, 413-416.