Office Address: 140F Gilmer Hall

Biography

Dr. Avery’s has a joint faculty appointment in the Departments of Psychology and Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Her overarching research interests are at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and mainstream media. Specifically, she is interested in Black women’s intersectional identities and how the negotiation of dominant gender ideologies and racial stereotypes are associated with adverse psychological and sexual health outcomes. Currently, she has three lines of research that focus on understanding the structural and sociocultural determinants of health inequalities for multiply marginalized populations. First, she examines the physical and mental health consequences associated with internalizing constraining feminine beauty and body standards. A second line focuses on the role of popular media in gendered-racial identity development and the socialization of intimate injustice. Finally, her work interrogates how gendered-racism and racial stereotypes impact Black women's self-esteem, sense of belonging, and experiences of interpersonal relationships. Taken together, the primary aim of Dr. Avery’s research is to promote healthy gender and sexual development among socially marginalized and stigmatized groups. She runs the Research on Intersectionality, Sexuality, and Empowerment (RISE) Lab at the University of Virginia.

Dr. Avery is accepting new students for the doctoral program in Community Psychology (Fall 2025). She is also looking to recruit highly motivated undergraduate students for the RISE Lab in the Spring 2025. Interested parties should contact her directly at la4gd@virginia.edu to apply.   

Representative Publications

Matsuzaka, S., Avery, L. R., & Stanton, A. G. (2023). Black women’s social media use integration and social media addiction: The need to connect with Black women. Social Media & Society. Advance online publication. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051221148977

Matsuzaka, S., Jamison, L., Avery, L. R., Schmidt, K., Debnam, K., & Stanton, A. G. (2022). Gendered racial microaggressions scale: Measurement invariance across sexual orientation. Psychology of Women Quarterly. Advance online publication.https://doiorg.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/10.1177/03616843221118

Stanton, A. G., Avery, L. R., & Matsuzaka, S. (2022). Black women’s experiences of gendered racial sexual objectification, body image, and mental health. Body Image, 41, 443-452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.04.014

Matsuzaka, S., Avery, L. R., & Stanton, A. G. (2022). Online victimization, womanism, and body esteem among young Black women: A structural equation modeling approach. Sex Roles, 86(11-12), 681-694. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-022-01296-z  

Avery, L. R., Stanton, A. G., Ward, L., Trinh, S., Cole, E. R., & Jerald, M. (2022). The strong, silent (gender) type: The strong Black woman ideal, self-silencing, and sexual assertiveness in Black college women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51, 1509–1520. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02179-2

Anyiwo, N., Stanton, A. G., Avery, L. R., Bernard, D. L., Abrams, J. A., & Golden, A. R. (2021). Becoming strong: Sociocultural experiences, mental health & Black girls’ strong Black woman schema endorsement. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 32(1), 89-98. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12707

Avery, L. R., Stanton, A. G., Ward, L., Trinh, S., Cole, E. R., & Jerald, M. (2021). Remixing the script?: The role of culturally targeted media consumption on young Black women’s heteropatriarchal romantic relationship beliefs. Journal of Black Psychology, 47(7), 593-625. https://doi.org/10.1177 /00957984211021236

Avery, L. R., **Stanton, A. G., Trinh, S. L., Ward, L. M., Jerald, M. C., & Cole, E. R. (2021). “Pretty hurts”: Acceptance of hegemonic feminine beauty ideals and reduced sexual well-being among Black women. Body Image, 38,181-190 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.04.004

Avery, L. R., and **Stanton, A. G. (2020). Subverting the mandates of our methods: Tensions and considerations for incorporating reproductive justice frameworks into psychological science. Journal of Social Issues, 76, 447-455. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12386

Ward, L. M., Jerald, M., Avery, L., & Cole, E. R. (2020). Following their lead? Connecting mainstream media use to Black women’s gender beliefs and sexual agency. The Journal of Sex Research, 57(2), 200-212. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2018.1554741

Jerald, M. C., Ward, L. M., Cole, E. R, and Avery, L. R. (2017). Controlling Images: How Awareness of Group Stereotypes Affects Black Women's Well-Being. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64, 487-499. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000233

Avery, L. R., Ward, L. M., Moss, L., and Üsküp, D. (2017). Tuning gender: Representations of femininity and masculinity in popular music by Black artists. Journal of Black Psychology, 43, 159-191. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798415627917