Drawing from the sociology of gender and sexuality, social psychology, cultural sociology, and demography, Michelle studies how individual wants and beliefs influence socially contentious behaviors in complimentary and countervailing ways. She uses complex statistical and survey experimental methods and is interested in novel data collection approaches to observe these phenomena. Her current projects use data from the National Couples’ Health and Time Study to examine how intimacy and relationship quality predict stress and mental health outcomes in early to middle adulthood, and how this varies by the sex-gender composition of couples.
Her research interests include:
1. Gender and Sexuality
2. Social Psychology
3. Stress and Mental Health
4. Sexual and Reproductive Health
Michelle is a Population Health Postdoctoral Fellow and holds a PhD in Sociology with a Demography specialization from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research examines the social and cultural determinants of sexual and reproductive health, fertility, and psychological wellbeing, with a focus on how social norms are adopted and predict intimate relationships and sexual behavior.
1. Eilers, Michelle A. “Gendered Expectations to Perform Oral Sex in a National Survey Experiment.” Presented at:
- American Sociological Association Annual Meeting (ASA), Philadelphia, PA, August 2023.
- Population Association of America Annual Meeting (PAA), New Orleans, LA, April 2023.
2. Eilers, Michelle A. “The Chicken or the Egg? Behavioral-Attitudinal Feedback Loops for Premarital Sex.” Presented at:
- Society for Study of Social Problems Annual Meeting (SSSP), Philadelphia, PA, August 2023.
- Midwestern Sociological Society Annual Meeting (MSS), Minneapolis, MN, March 2023.
- Population Association of America Annual Meeting (PAA), Atlanta, GA, April 2022 (Poster).
3. “US Adult Fertility Preferences Alongside Social and Economic Constraints.” October 2022. Presented at the Population Wellbeing Initiative Fertility Preferences Conference. University of Texas at Austin.
4. Eilers, Michelle A. “What a (Young) Woman Wants: Concurrent Effects of Desire to Avoid Pregnancy and Desire for Sex on Sexual Intercourse Contraceptive Use.” Presented at:
- Population Association of America Annual Meeting (PAA), Virtual, May 2021.
- American Sociological Association Annual Meeting (ASA), Virtual, August 2021.
- British Society for Population Studies Annual Meeting (BSPS), Virtual, September 2021.
5. Eilers, Michelle A. and Abigail Weitzman. “Young Women’s Sexual Behavior and Contraceptive Use Amidst Conflicting Desires and Morals.” Presented at the Population Association of America Annual Meeting (PAA). Austin, TX, May 2019.
Selected Publications
- Eilers, Michelle A. 2022. “What a (Young) Woman Wants: Concurrent Effects of Desire to Avoid Pregnancy and Desire for Sex on Sexual Intercourse and Contraceptive Use.” Demography 59(6): 2271-93. doi: 10.1215/00703370-10295826.
- Eilers, Michelle A., C. Emily Hendrick, Rafael Perez-Escamilla, Daniel A. Powers, Joseph E. Potter. 2020. “Breastfeeding Initiation, Duration, and Supplementation Among Mexican-Origin Women in Texas.” Pediatrics 145(4): e20192742.
- Behrman, Julia A., Michelle A. Eilers, Isabel McLoughlin-Brooks, Abigail Weitzman. 2022. “International Migration and Modern Contraceptive Use: A Research Note on African Migrants to France.” Demography 59(1):27-36. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-9611478.