Current Research

Book Project: Facing What We Believe: When Our Certainty Is Shaken and We Have to Say Why

Facing What We Believe argues that political beliefs change not through persuasion, but when people are compelled to justify their views in contexts they cannot easily dismiss. These moments expose tensions in our own reasoning and make genuine change possible, reframing moral and political beliefs as products of prior justificatory contexts rather than fixed internal commitments. Drawing on original research that links theoretical concepts to observable patterns in real political discussion, the book shows how such conditions are increasingly rare in contemporary politics.

[link to book précis]

Working Paper (job market paper) “When We Have to Say Why: Co-Partisan Disagreement and Belief Changein an Age of Polarization.” 2026. Under Review.

Develops and tests a theory of belief change centered on justificatory pressure, using experimental discussion data and transcript-based measures to directly observe the underlying mechanisms.

Publications

• “Partisan Social Norms, Racial Attitudes and Discourse.” 2026. Conditionally Accepted at Political Behavior. [link to pre-print]
• “Couples Therapy for a Divided America: Assessing the Effects of Reciprocal Group Reflections on Partisan Polarization.” (with Hannah Baron et al.). 2025. Political Behavior. 47: 1363-1388. [link to pre-print]
• “How Political Representation Empowers Women.” (first author, with Dominik Duell). 2025. Political Behavior. 47: 217-240. [link to pre-print]
• “Reversion to the Mean, or Their Version of the Dream? Latino Voting in an Age of Populism.” (with Bernard Fraga and Yamil Velez). 2025. American Political Science Review. 119(1): 517-525. [link to paper]
• “In-Group Bias, Partisanship and Gendered Voting.” 2022. Political Psychology. 43(6): 1147-1168. [link to paper]
• “How Does the Rising Number of Women in the U.S. Congress Change Deliberation? Evidence from House Committee Hearings.” (with Pamela Ban et al.). 2022. Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 17(3): 355-387. [link to paper]
• “Partisanship as a Social Identity: Implications for Polarization.” (first author, with Shanto Iyengar). 2022. Political Behavior. 44: 807-838. [link to paper]
• “Discrimination in Public Accommodations.” (with Anna Harvey). 2020. Political Science Research and Methods. 8(4): 597-613. [link to paper]
• “Repressed Productive Potential and Revolt: Insights from an Insurgency in Burundi.” (with Cyrus Samii). 2019. Political Science Research and Methods. 9(1): 106-121. [link to paper]
• “Descriptive Representation and Political Efficacy: Evidence from Obama and Clinton.” 2017. The Journal of Politics. 79(1): 351-355. [link to paper]

In Progress

• “Leadership Sexism: A New Sexism Measure to Predict Candidate Choice.” (with Libby Jenke, Jon Krosnick and Cecilia Mo). 2026. Under Review. [link to draft]
• “From Survey to Speech: When Do Attitude Measures Capture Political Expression?.” (with Ecem Ersozlu). 2026. Working Paper.