About Me

Dr. Emily Esposito is an Assistant Professor of social psychology at Northeastern Illinois University. She teaches classes on social psychology and statistics and research methods. Her current research focuses on people's experiences in spaces, examining how some culturally-relevant spaces may fit and affirm people of marginalized backgrounds more than others. She is also interested in how broader cultural contexts (e.g., structural stigma, features of venues) and shifts in cultural contexts (e.g., migration, changing laws) relate to health disparities among marginalized and specifically LGBTQ+ populations.

She previously worked as a postdoctoral scholar at the Impact Institute at Northwestern University, working with Dr. Michelle Birkett. Through this postdoctoral fellowship, she conducted research on HIV disparities among men who have sex with men and transgender women (MSM-TW) to better understand how the places people travel to contribute to racial and ethnic HIV disparities among MSM-TW. 

In 2024, Dr. Esposito completed her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, under Dr. Jimmy Calanchini. 

Before her Ph.D., Dr. Esposito completed an MA in Psychology at the City College of New York, while also working as an adjunct lecturer for statistics at the City College of New York and a research assistant in stroke rehabilitation and cognition at the Kessler Foundation.

In her previous research, Dr. Esposito studied psychological and contextual effects on sexual minority health and well-being in multiple ways:

In one line of inquiry, she examines how gay friendliness of states and regions impact sexual minority people's mental health, belonging, and where they choose to live.

To bolster this work, she also delves into theories of how regional bias acts as structural stigma, and how regional intergroup bias predicts different health, behavioral, and cultural outcomes. 

In her dissertation, she also focused on sexual identity development and integration as it relates to belonging and well-being through person-environment fit.

When she's not in the lab, Emily loves to play bar trivia, watch all of her favorite teams, and travel to new places!