Assistant Professorsshebib@uab.edu
Heritage Hall 307
(205) 934-8912

Research and Teaching Interests: Dark side of relationships, Interpersonal communication, Family communication, Instructional communication, and Advanced statistics

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

• B.S., Arizona State University, Communication
• M.S., Illinois State University, Communication
• Ph.D., Michigan State University, Communication

Dr. Samantha J. Shebib is a social scientist who studies communication in a variety of contexts with a dark side perspective, shedding light on the paradoxical, dialectical, hidden, and forbidden facets of human relating. She draws attention to the fact that negative and dysfunctional outcomes can occur in relationships even when positive and functional ones are expected. At the same time, there are often positive silver linings in seemingly dark relational contexts.

Shebib's research interests are embedded in interpersonal/family relationships. Currently, she is interested in examining how physiological responses (i.e., cortisol and testosterone) affect how one communicates when conflict transpires. Similarly, she intends to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to see how messages affect the brain, which is the biological organ of communication. Her research is also interested in how communication behaviors are transmitted across generations as children learn these behaviors as ways to manage and handle relationship interactions.

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