Cristen Dalessandro, PhD is a sociologist and senior researcher based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Cristen’s research broadly focuses on how individuals navigate social inequalities in their lives and interpersonal relationships. In addition, she has experience and expertise as a sexual and reproductive health researcher. Cristen has published over 25 pieces in peer-reviewed journals and one book, Intimate Inequalities.
Cristen is currently a senior researcher at O.C. Tanner in Salt Lake City, where she conducts research on employee experiences and workplace culture using a social science lens.
Cristen’s book, Intimate Inequalities: Millennials’ Romantic Relationships in Contemporary Times, explores how millennials navigate gender, race, social class, sexuality, and age identities and expectations in their relationships. It is available to order NOW through the Rutgers University Press website and wherever books are sold. To date, Intimate Inequalities has received honors from several award programs that showcase indie authors and presses, including the Nautilus Book Awards, the Foreword Indies Awards, and the National Indie Excellence Awards.

Critical praise for Intimate Inequalities:
“Dalessandro gives us a rich glimpse into the stories millennials tell about themselves, their intimate partners, and the world as they navigate an emerging adulthood of economic precarity and social stagnation. This powerful generational portrait will surprise and move you.”
-Dr. Jennifer Lundquist, Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
“The voices of the participants draw the reader in throughout, while Dalessandro grounds their narratives in careful, compelling, and accessible analysis that provides context to the tensions with which millennials grapple.”
-Dr. Ellen Lamont, Associate Professor of Sociology, Appalachian State University
“This intersectional approach generates novel insights into the inequalities that pattern millennial sex lives. The book will be appreciated by scholars and students of gender, family, sexuality, and the transition to adulthood.”
-Dr. Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan