Emily Buehler

Get to Know Professor Emily Buehler

My research investigates how and why personal and social media influence processes of supportive communication in interpersonal relationships. I seek to explain how communicators might best leverage opportunities associated with exchanging support online and identify the mechanisms driving outcomes of technologically-mediated interpersonal interactions. I teach courses focused on interpersonal communication, close relationships, and the role of communication technologies in our social lives.

I typically work with graduate students who are interested in processes of interpersonal communication, supportive communication, and/or computer-mediated communication. Research collaborations with graduate students usually center on areas where we share significant overlap in interests. When it comes to advising and mentoring graduate students, I seek to support students’ growth and development. I encourage students to identify professional goals early and revisit them regularly, and I aim to provide support and guidance to help them make decisions aligned with their goals. I seek to encourage their intellectual independence and foster practices like goal-setting and daily writing to support their research.

BIOGRAPHY

Ph.D., University of Iowa

M.A., Wake Forest University

B.A., Ohio Northern University

Emily M. Buehler (Ph.D., University of Iowa) is an Assistant Professor of Interpersonal Communication and Social Media in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue and a member of the Purdue Steps to Leaps Research Collaborative. Her research examines how personal and social media influence processes of interpersonal communication, particularly those relevant to seeking and providing social support. As a member of the Steps to Leaps Research Collaborative, she translates her research on social support and social media for the Purdue student body to promote their well-being.

Dr. Buehler is an award-winning teacher, named one of Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Undergraduate Teachers in 2023. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on interpersonal communication, close relationships, relationships and technology, and privacy and disclosure. A passionate mentor, she advises the Association for Women in Communication at Purdue and has spent more than 15 years volunteering her time in the summer to teach high school students about leadership, service, and innovative problem-solving through the HOBY leadership program.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Buehler, E. M., & High, A. C. (in press). Seeking support online: How anonymity, visibility, and relationship closeness shape support-seeking messages. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000453

Youngvorst, L. J., & Buehler, E. M. (2025). Contextual factors influencing online support providers’ motivations and message provision. Western Journal of Communication, 89(1), 207–233.

Buehler, E. M., Crowley, J. L., Peterson, A. M., & Jackl, J. A. (2024). Family communication patterns, mediated communication, and well-being: A communication interdependence perspective on parent–adult child relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 41(5), 1113-1135.

Lee, D. G., & Buehler, E. M. (2024). “Thank you for being there for me”: How channel publicness and expression of gratitude shape perceptions of support-seeking messages on social network sites. Communication Quarterly, 72(5), 439-460.

Buehler, E. M., & High, A. C. (2023). Indirect effects of video chat on outcomes of receiving support: Uniting theorizing about supportive communication and computer-mediated communication. Communication Monographs, 90(1), 92-111.

Buehler, E. M., & Youngvorst, L. J. (2022). Online support-seeking in the context of grief: How support-seeking message content and communication channels shape support providers’ impressions of the bereaved. Computers in Human Behavior, 137.