BIO

Dr. Julie Wronski is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Mississippi. Her research lies at the intersection of American Politics and Political Psychology. Using survey, experimental, and quantitative research methods, she explores the ways in which group identities and personal dispositions shape political behavior, public opinion, and vote choice. Specifically, she focuses on the roles of national and partisan identities, authoritarianism, and empathy in shaping political behavior in the United States. Wronski’s research has been published in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Political Psychology, and Political Behavior, among other peer-reviewed outlets; and has been funded by the National Science Foundation’s Time Sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences. Her work on partisan sorting and identity politics is routinely featured in international news outlets including the New York Times, The Economist, and the Washington Post. She is currently serving as the Associate Editor, American Political Behavior for the Journal of Politics. Her current book project, The “Un-American” Citizen, examines how Americans psychologically make sense of their national identity in a politically polarized climate, and how partisan divisions shape mass public beliefs that fellow citizens are un-American. Using survey, experimental, and observational studies from 2016–2022 the book assesses the scope of un-American attitudes in public opinion, the factors that motivate individuals to think about their fellow citizens as un-American, and the ways in which conflicting beliefs regarding who does (and does not) count as an American threaten our nation’s democracy.