SELECTIVE EXPOSURE &
INCIDENTAL EXPOSURE TO POLITICAL INFORMATION
I study the selective avoidance of political information afforded by greater media choice and how this can be overcome by incidental exposure to political information through entertainment and social media.
SELECTIVE EXPOSURE &
ONLINE AND OFFLINE POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT
This line of inquiry engages existing research on interpersonal and mediated political disagreement, and the conflicting findings about the influence of these forces on traditional and online political participation. I examine whether exposure to political disagreement or homophily makes people more or less inclined to be politically active and if these findings differ according to whether the exposure setting is interpersonal or mediated. Check out this Monkey Cage post on how political disagreement impacts youth in particular.
MEDIA USE / CITIZENSHIP NORMS
I study the socialization of citizenship norms and patterns of political behavior that result from specific online activities. My research in this area examines how novel ICT affordances correlate with observed changes in citizenship norms particularly among youth.
FRAMING EFFECTS AND IDENTITY
This research examines the interaction of framing effects and identity as they impact blame attribution for specific policies. Together with Amber Boydstun and Rebecca Glazier, we developed an experimental research design to expand the literature on framing effects to account more specifically for varying identity and policy area as these aspects are influential in how people attribute blame.