Alice Hall, Ph.D.

Alice Hall's research focuses on the selection and interpretation of entertainment media. She is interested in how audiences make sense of mediated stories and in how these interpretive processes affect the stories’ influence on the audiences’ views of the world. She has studied perceptions of reality programs, how audiences evaluate the realism of fictional media, and the factors that contribute to audiences’ involvement in stories. Her work has been published in leading journals, including the Journal of Communication, Media Psychology, and the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. Dr. Hall’s teaching focuses on mass communication theory.

Education:

Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
M.A., University of Pennsylvania
B.A., Trinity University

Selection of Courses Taught:

COMM 1050: Introduction to Mass Communication
COMM 6700: Seminar in Mass Communication
MEDIA ST 1110: Introduction to Broadcasting and Digital Media

Selected Publications:

For additional information on Dr. Hall's work, including links to some of these publications, please see the UMSL Library Institutional Repository.

Reinhart, A., Zwarun, L., Hall, A., & Tian, Y. (2021) Transportation into audio-visual narratives: A closer look. Communication Quarterly, 69, 564-585. DOI:10.1080/01463373.2021.1981416

Hall, A. (2020). Audience responses to diverse superheroes: the roles of gender and race in forging connections with media characters in superhero franchise films. Journal of Aesthetics and Creative Activity. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000363

Hall, A. (2020). Big 5 personality traits and traditional media uses and experiences. In Van den Bulck, J. (Ed.) International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology. Wiley-Blackwell.

Hall, A. (2020). Gender and children's media preferences both content & media form. In Van den Bulck, J. (Ed.) International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology. Wiley-Blackwell.

Hall, A. (2019). Identification and parasocial relationships with characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8, 88-98. DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000160 

Hall, A. (2017). Perception of reality. In P. Roessler (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Media Effects. Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781118783764  

Hall, A. (2017). Personality, media, and well-being. In M.B. Oliver & L. Reinecke (Eds.), Handbook of Media Use and Well-Being: International Perspectives on Theory and Research on Positive Media Effects. (pp. 199-210). Routledge.

Hall, A. (2017). Mass communication. In M. Allen (Ed.), SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods, Volume 2 (pp. 913-916). Sage.

Hall, A. (2015). Entertainment-oriented gratifications of sports media: The role of athlete affinity, sport involvement, suspense, and game outcome. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 35, 259-277. DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2015.1029124 

Zwarun, L., & Hall, A. (2014). What's going on?: Age distraction and multitasking during online survey taking. Computers and Human Behavior, 41, 236-244. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.041

Zwarun, L., & Hall, A. (2012). Narrative persuasion in short fantastical online films. Media Psychology, 15, 327-355.

Hall, A., & Zwarun, L. (2012). Challenging entertainment: Enjoyment, transportation, and need for cognition in relation to online fiction films. Mass Communication and Society, 15, 384-406.

Hall, A., & Bracken, C. C. (2011). “I Really Liked That Movie”: Testing the Relationship between Trait Empathy, Transportation, Perceived Realism, and Movie Enjoyment. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications, 23, 90-99.

Hall, A. (2009). Realism and reality TV.  In R. L. Nabi & M. B. Oliver (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of media processes and effects (pp. 423-438). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 

Hall, A. (2009). Perceptions of the authenticity of reality programs and their relationships to audience involvement, enjoyment, and perceived learning. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 53, 515-531.

Hall, A. (2007). The social implications of enjoyment of different types of music, movies, and television programming. Western Journal of Communication, 71, 259-271. DOI: 10.1080/10570310701653794

Hall, A. (2006). Viewers’ perceptions of reality programs. Communication Quarterly, 54, 191-212. DOI: 10.1080/01463370600650902

Hall, A. (2005). Personality and the use and selection of media materials. Media Psychology, 7, 377-398. DOI: 10.1207/S1532785XMEP0704_4

Hall, A. (2003). Reading realism: Audiences’ perceptions of the realism of mass media texts. Journal of Communication, 53, 624-641.

Hall, A., & Cappella, J. (2002). The impact of political talk radio exposure on attributions about the outcome of the 1996 presidential election. Journal of Communication, 52, 332-350. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2002.tb02548.x