Benjamin E. Custer
About Benjamin E. Custer
Benjamin E. Custer (PhD, University of Arizona, 2020) is a communication researcher and instructor. In 2019, he won UArizona’s Department of Communication Excellence in Teaching Award and Kory Floyd Graduate Fellowship in Interpersonal Relations. He is also the recipient of a Top Four Paper Award (2020) from the National Communication Association’s Interpersonal Communication Division and a Top Debut Paper Award (2018) from the Western States Communication Association’s Media Studies Interest Group. Dr. Custer is set to depart for Bulgaria in fall 2021, where he will serve as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) as a Fulbright scholar.
Research Interests
- Interpersonal communication
- Mass communication
- Communication technologies
- Social psychology
- Evolutionary psychology
Selected Publications
Custer, B. (2014). STEM from the humanities: How visual arts, empathy and storytelling fuel innovation. Peninsula Press, A Project of the Stanford Graduate Program in Journalism. Later featured on SFGate.
Floyd, K., & Custer, B. E. (2020). Affection exchange theory. In J. Nussbaum (Ed.), Oxford research encyclopedia of communication. Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.937
Floyd, K., Woo, N. T., & Custer, B. E. (2020). The biology of affectionate communication. In K. Floyd, & R. Weber (Eds.), The handbook of communication science and biology (pp. 308-318). Routledge.
Hesse, C., Floyd, K., Rains, S. R., Mikkelson, A. C., Pauley, P. M., Woo, N. T., Custer, B. E., & Duncan, K. (2020). Affectionate communication and health: A meta-analysis. Communication Monographs. Advance online publication.
Lapierre, M. A., & Custer, B. E. (2020). Testing relationships between smartphone engagement, romantic partner communication, and relationship satisfaction. Mobile Media & Communication. doi: 10.1177/2050157920935163
Floyd, K., Matheny, R., Dinsmore, D. R., Custer, B. E., & Woo, N. T. (2019). “If you disagree, unfriend me now”: Exploring the phenomenon of invited unfriending. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 7(1), 20-29. doi: 10.12691/ajap-7-1-3
Lapierre, M. A., Zhao, P., & Custer, B. E. (2019). Short-term longitudinal relationships between smartphone use/dependency and psychological well-being among late adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 65(5), 607-612. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.06.001
Contact Information
Degree(s)
PhD (2020) Communication, University of Arizona
M.A. (2014) Communication, Stanford University
B.S. (2011) Mass Communications, Texas A&M University-Texarkana
Dissertation Title
Courses Taught
Intro. to Communication Theory
Intro. to Interpersonal Communication
Intro. to Public Speaking
Intro. to Small Group Communication
Intro. to the Study of Communication
Survey of Mass Communication
