Papers & books.

Using real-time conversations with AI agents, this study separates voice-based gender cues from persuasive rhetoric and the topic of discussion. In this experiment, male- and female-sounding voices did not differ directly in persuasiveness; topic and participant gender were associated with differences in persuasion. The findings identify specific gender-related dynamics rather than establishing that gender bias is absent from political conversation.

Methods: randomized experiment, real-time voice conversations, generative AI, gender and persuasion

A large-scale experiment with U.S. local elected officials finds that Black men were systematically ignored, regardless of the message they sent, highlighting the importance of intersectional theories of responsiveness.

Methods: field experiment, responsiveness

Citizens frequently define listening as fair consideration. A conjoint experiment shows that people respond positively when elected officials listen, even when other familiar predictors such as shared partisanship are held in view.

Methods: open-ended survey, conjoint experiment

Two survey experiments use generative AI to test theories of persuasion. AI-generated counterattitudinal messages changed some attitudes, but customization and interaction were not consistently more persuasive than a generic message.

Methods: preregistered survey experiments, large language models

The study compares aligned and unaligned open-source language models with human responses. It shows that alignment affects simulated attitudes in predictable ways and that model choice matters for social-science research.

Methods: benchmarking, silicon sampling

An introduction to a handbook on how political psychology can respond to democratic strain, technological change, and new questions about political behavior.

Methods: theory, research synthesis

A chapter on how populism can create problems for democracy, including affective polarization, weakened institutions, and harmful policy responses.

Methods: theory, comparative research

A chapter explaining the ideational approach to populism and its relevance for understanding contemporary threats to democratic institutions.

Methods: theory, comparative research

Across survey data and experiments, partisanship strongly shapes how Americans understand and evaluate behaviors labeled cancel culture, while value framing has a weaker effect.

Methods: survey data, survey experiments

Comparing 2016 and 2021 responses, the study finds partisan stereotypes became less group- and issue-based and more focused on personal traits during the Trump era.

Methods: structural topic model, open-ended survey

Survey experiments examine how justifications can reduce the political costs of racialized messages while preserving support among racially resentful White respondents.

Methods: survey experiments, racial messaging

Evidence-based AI suggestions improved reported conversation quality, democratic reciprocity, and tone without systematically changing the content of conversations or policy attitudes.

Methods: large-scale experiment, AI intervention

The study proposes that language models can simulate specific human subpopulations when conditioned on detailed demographic backstories, while emphasizing the need to evaluate algorithmic fidelity carefully.

Methods: silicon samples, large language models

Americans and elected officials use ideas about spatial extremity and unwillingness to listen when defining extremism, but they often apply those standards unevenly across political camps.

Methods: surveys, conjoint experiments, open-ended responses

A book-length study of how different forms of intergroup contact affect political attitudes, including when difficult communication produces backlash rather than harmony.

Methods: experiments, intergroup contact

The book shows that images of ordinary partisans—especially trait-based images—shape affective and ideological polarization, while instrumental views may create room for compromise.

Methods: open-ended survey, observational and experimental research

Dispositional blame frames activate latent populist attitudes more than situational frames, with downstream consequences for candidate support.

Methods: survey experiments, framing

People describe partisans in terms of groups, issues, and traits. Trait-based stereotypes are especially associated with affective and ideological polarization.

Methods: open-ended survey, structural topic model

The chapter examines how intentional misconduct and corruption can activate populist responses, especially when corruption is understood as widespread.

Methods: laboratory experiments, comparative research

A review of framing-effects research that identifies strengths, limitations, and open questions about how political messages shape preferences.

Methods: research synthesis, framing

A partial replication suggests that irrelevant events can affect some political attitudes, but the effect is constrained to particular outcomes and may be short-lived.

Methods: replication, experiment

An experiment finds that a sporting event can affect presidential approval, likely through mood, while emphasizing the importance of identifying when irrelevant-event effects occur.

Methods: experiment, replication