Rate My Professor Olivia Monson

Olivia Monson is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. Her research employs qualitative methods within critical health psychology, examining social constructions related to body image, healthism, masculinities, and digital interactions. Monson has explored how young men negotiate masculinities on dating applications, barriers faced by autistic children in using augmentative and alternative communication across Australia and the UK, and the discursive promotion of weight loss ideologies in reality television. She has also investigated online negotiations around assisted reproductive technologies for social sex selection and women's engagement with fat acceptance messages.

Monson's key publications include co-authorship on 'You don't look for love on grindr, that's for sure: a qualitative investigation into dating app use of Australian same-sex attracted men' (Psychology & Sexuality, 2024), 'Comparing and contrasting barriers in augmentative alternative communication for autistic children across Australia and the UK' (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2024), 'Working hard on the outside: a multimodal critical discourse analysis of The Biggest Loser Australia' (Social Semiotics, 2016), and 'You get the baby you need: Negotiating the use of assisted reproductive technology for social sex selection in online discussion forums' (Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2015). She has supervised honours theses on gendered constructions of healthism in young adults, the lived experience of multiple sclerosis, and young men's masculinities in sexualised culture. As a unit coordinator and lecturer, she delivers PSY101: Introduction to Cultural Psychology, covering topics such as Hofstede's cultural dimensions. Her work on ResearchGate has received 49 citations across four publications. Monson contributes to the School of Psychology's research group focused on health psychology.