Drouin has studied deception during sexting,[1] and how texting and sexting affect attachment in relationships between college students,[2] as well as between adult relationships.[3] She found correlations between coercive sexting and mental health problems,[4] as well as links between Internet trolling and sadism.[5][6] She described how people sometimes use social media to maintain back-burner relationships to keep alive connections to possible future romantic partners.[7][8] Much of her research focuses on social media sites such as Facebook; for example, she found that some people make new romantic connections by friending people on Facebook.[9] She studied the issue of phantom vibrations experienced by many cell phone users in which a phone seems to vibrate but doesn't; a study she conducted found that 89% of students experienced a phantom vibration at least once every two weeks.[10][11] She found that people were more likely to experience phantom vibrations if they expected to react emotionally to incoming communications.[12] Her research found that young adults generally do not support the practice of employers using social media when making hiring decisions.[13]
^CRISTEN CONGER (May 17, 2011). "Are Adults Having Good Sexts?". ABC News. ...Psychology professor Michelle Drouin has studied sexting behavior among the college-aged population ... half of people in committed relationships had sent a sext photo....
^Maureen Mespell (June 9, 2011). "How Prevalent Is Sexting?". Indiana News Center. Archived from the original on September 8, 2014. ...Michelle Drouin was on our 5pm newscast ... how prevalent sexting is among adults and what role social media plays in the ease of committing such acts....
^Rachel Martin (May 5, 2014). "Sexting coercion is on the rise – and can be as traumatic as partner violence". 21 Alive. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2015. Dr. Drouin says "invisibility" or, hiding behind an online profile and this screen, makes cyber rage easy. The other thing—the convenience of posting online with just the click of a button.
^Joseph Nowinski (July 16, 2014). "Social Networking and the 'Back Burner' Phenomenon". Huffington Post. Retrieved Sep 30, 2014. ...Drouin set out to investigate how the back burner phenomenon might be playing out today...
^Allison Bond of Reuters (April 15, 2014). "Some new Facebook friends may signal relationship troubles". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved Sep 10, 2014. ..."People are using Facebook and other social media sites to make romantic connections with people they would entertain having a relationship with... said Michelle Drouin....{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
^Larry Rosen, Ph.D (May 7, 2013). "Phantom Pocket Vibration Syndrome". Psychology Today. Retrieved Sep 10, 2014. ...According to Dr. Michelle Drouin... 89% of the undergraduates in her study had experienced these phantom vibrations...
^Vindy.com (February 22, 2015). "Young adults to employers: Please ignore our social media posts". Youngstown News. Retrieved March 10, 2015. A recent study in Computers in Human Behavior by Michelle Drouin and her colleagues at Indiana University-Purdue University suggests many young adults don't support the use of social media when screening job applicants...
