Research Interests

• Attitude Change/Persuasion
• Behavioral Intervention
• Decision Making/Choice
• Internet and Online Platforms
• Media
• Political Science
• Communication
• Public Health
• Statistical Modeling
• Text Analysis

I'm a political scientist by training, mostly doing work on affective polarization and misinformation, in the United States and in comparative contexts (mostly Canada and UK, but also Poland). The bulk of my work looks at the intersection of the changing media environment and public opinion formation, primarily on topics related to science (like vaccinations or climate change).

Select Publications

Fitz, E.B., Stecuła, D.A., Hitt, M.P. et al. (2024). Objective numeracy exacerbates framing effects from decision-making under political risk. Scientific Reports 14, 10473. DOI. 

Motta, M., & Stecula, D. (2023). The Effects of Partisan Media in the Face of Global Pandemic: How News Shaped COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy. Political Communication, 40(5), 505–526. DOI. 

Stecula, D. A., & Pickup, M. (2021). How populism and conservative media fuel conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 and what it means for COVID-19 behaviors. Research & Politics, 8(1). DOI.