I am currently a member of the political psychology faculty in the Political Science Department at Stony Brook University. I completed my Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of Chicago in 2007. Prior to that, I received my M.A. from the University of Chicago in 2004, and my B.S. in psychology from Carnegie Mellon University.

One of my primary interests is in how the social world influences attitudes and attitude strength. Thus far, this line of research has shown that the attitudes of others, especially the attitudes of well-liked others with whom an individual is in frequent contact, influence the strength of that individual's attitude. This occurs not only through the introduction of new information and arguments, but through the mere knowledge of the attitudes of others. In particular, having social network members who agree with one with respect to some attitude strengthens that attitude, whereas social network members with diverse attitudes may weaken one's own attitude.

Interestingly, my research in this area has shown that a diverse social network does not encourage individuals to change their attitudes simply for the sake of change. Diversity acts as a cue that one's attitudes may need to be reexamined. As such, individuals whose networks contain a greater amount of attitudinal diversity will more carefully examine attitude relevant information, and change their attitude according to the quality of arguments they find. Individuals whose networks agree with them do not engage in such careful information processing.

My research continues to examine this phenomenon, exploring the antecedents, the process through with the effect transpires, and its consequences. This continuing research examines topics ranging from the role of morality in social network influence to the effect of those around us on information seeking and motivated reasoning.

A related line of research applies my prior research regarding the influence of social networks to the concept of prejudice. As with political attitudes, diversity in the opinions of social network members weakens prejudice, making prejudice more likely to influence other attitudes and behavior, as well as making individuals more open to changing their evaluation of another group, and less likely to act upon their current evaluation. Similarly, the agreement of social network members makes individuals less open to persuasion, and more likely to act upon their evaluations, and more likely to hold prejudice-consistent political views, regardless of whether those evaluations are positive or negative. This effect holds with implicit prejudice, as well.

For more information, please see my university home page.