Research Interests

• Attitude Change/Persuasion
• Media
• Political Science
• Communication
• Stereotyping and Prejudice
• Text Analysis

My broader research concerns how the public processes and responds to international threats, and more specifically focuses on contexts in which epistemic uncertainty prevails in the information environment. In my own project, I have found that threats with inherent uncertainty provides a potent context for polarization, where partisan response from political elites can leave the public demoralized and demobilized in the face of external threats, contrary to the shared wisdom in the field of international relations that the public will unite and rally against foreign adversaries. In another study, I operationalize epistemic uncertainty with redacted materials to explore the impact of the "blacked-out boxes" on trust in government and partisan polarization, as well as on conspiratorial beliefs and motivated reasoning, both of which are considered relevant factors for the spread and reproduction of misinformation.