Research Interests: Narrative persuasion, Identification, Para-Social Interaction
Tel.: 04-828-8513
E-mail: jcohen@com.haifa.ac.il
Room: Rabin Complex 8032
Jonathan Cohen (Ph.D., University of Southern California, 1995) has been teaching at the Department of Communication at Haifa University since 1995. He teaches courses on the psychology of entertainment, graduate courses in research methods and on effects theories, and a doctoral workshop. His research focuses on narrative persuasion, the relationships people develop with mediated characters, and perceptions of media influence and hostile media. His work has been funded by various foundations including the Israel Science Foundation and the Second Authority for Radio and Television. He served as an associate editor of Communication Theory and he is a board member of the International Communication Association. His publications have appeared in many journals among them in: Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Media Psychology, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Communication Theory, and Critical Studies in Media Communication. He was a member of the council of the Israeli Second Authority for Television and Radio.
Selected Publication:
Cohen, J. (2001). Defining identification: A theoretical look at the identification of audiences with media characters. Mass Communication and Society, 4(3), 245-264.
Tsfati Y. and Cohen, J.(2003). On the effect of the third person effect: Perceived influence of media coverage and residential mobility intentions. Journal of Communication, 53(4), 711 -727.
Cohen, J., Tsfati, Y., and Sheafer, T. (2008). The influence of presumed media influence in politics: Do politicians' perceptions of media power matter? Public Opinion Quarterly, 72(2), 331-344.
Cohen, J. (2008). What I watch and who I am: National pride and the viewing of local and foreign television in Israel. Journal of Communication, 58, 149-167.
Tal-Or, N. & Cohen, J. (2010). Understanding Audience Involvement: Conceptualizing and Manipulating Identification and Transportation. Poetics, 38, 402-418.
Tal-Or, N., Cohen, J., Tsfati, Y., & Gunther, A. C. (2010). Testing Causal Direction in the Influence of Presumed Media Influence. Communication Research, 37(6), 801–824.
Slater, M. D., Johnson, B. K., Cohen, J., Comello, M. L. G. and Ewoldsen, D. R. (2014), Temporarily Expanding the Boundaries of the Self: Motivations for Entering the Story World and Implications for Narrative Effects. Journal of Communication, 64: 439–455.
Cohen, J., Tal-Or, N. and Mazor-Tregerman, M. (2015), The Tempering Effect of Transportation: Exploring the Effects of Transportation and Identification During Exposure to Controversial Two-Sided Narratives. Journal of Communication,65: 237–258. doi: 10.1111/jcom.12144
Tal-Or, N., & Cohen, J. (2016). Unpacking Engagement: Convergence and Divergence in Transportation and Identification. Annals of the International Communication Association, 40(1), 33-66.
Cohen, J., Weimann-Saks, D., & Mazor-Tregerman, M. (2018). Does character similarity increase identification and persuasion? Media Psychology, 21(3), 506-528.
Walter, N., Cohen, J., Holbert, R. L., & Morag, Y. (Online First, 2019). Checking the Fact-Checker: What Works and for Whom. Political Communication.
Cohen, J., & Holbert, R. L. (Online first, 2018). Assessing the Predictive Value of Parasocial Relationship Intensity in a Political Context. Communication Research
Walter, N., & Cohen, J. (Online First, 21pp.) When less is more and more is less: The paradoxical effect of counterarguing on narrative persuasion. Communication Monographs
Oliver, M. B., Bilandzic, H., Cohen, J., Ferchaud, A., Shade, D. D., Bailey, E. J., & Yang, C. (2019). A penchant for the immoral: implications of parasocial interaction, perceived complicity, and identification on liking of anti-heroes. Human Communication Research, 45(2), 169-201.