Research Collaborations

Faculty and students in the Center for the Study of Political Psychology enjoy close collaborative relationships and routinely publish their work together. It is our goal to integrate all graduate students affiliated with the center into active mentorship relationships with core and/or affiliated faculty and to explore and develop common intellectual interests.

In the last decade, the most important collaborative projects sponsored by a series of election-year studied aimed at probing the psychological foundations of political preferences in the context of major campaigns in the United States.

To date, we have sponsored and conducted three major election studies. Our first study was conducted during the 2012 presidential election. This was followed up by two additional panel studies, focused on the 2016 presidential election and the 2018 midterm elections. A fourth CSPP election study—focused on the critical 2020 presidential election—was completed in the Political Psychology Proseminar.

Below, you can find information about the various CSPP Election Studies and their findings.

The CSPP 2024 Presidential Election Study was a two-wave panel study of political attitudes during the 2024 Presidential election. The survey interviewed a national sample of American adults. Major topics include policy opinions, news avoidance, trust and efficacy, and anti-democratic attitudes.

CSPP 2024 Presidential Election Study dataset.

The CSPP 2022 Mid-Term Election Multi-Investigator Study involved two three-wave panel studies of political attitudes after the 2022 midterm elections. The two surveys were fielded with two national samples of American adults. Major topics for the first survey include policy opinions, misinformation, and culture. Major topics for the second survey include evaluations of partisan groups and leaders, opinions on critical race theory, and sexism.

CSPP 2022 Mid-Term Election Multi-Investigator Study dataset.

Works using data from the 2022 Mid-Term Election Multi-Investigator Study include:

The CSPP 2020 Presidential Election Survey was a three-wave panel study of political attitudes during the 2020 Presidential election. The survey interviewed a national sample of American adults. Major topics include COVD-19, sexism, and identity.

CSPP 2020 Presidential Election Survey dataset.

Works using data from the 2020 CSPP Election Study include:

The 2018 CSPP Election Study was a two-save study of political attitudes in the midst of the 2018 midterm elections, conducted during fall 2018. Like the 2016 CSPP Election Study, it surveyed a national sample of American adults.

Works using data from the 2018 CSPP Election Study include: 

The 2016 CSPP Election Study was a four-save panel study conducted between July 2016 and November 2016. The study surveyed a national sample of American adults. The first three waves were collected in July, September, and October of that year prior to the election, and the fourth was collected in November following the election. Like the 2012 CSPP Election Study, the 2016 version measured a wide variety of psychological variables. Major topics included gender, immigration, and attitudes toward the Affordable Care Act, all of which were explored using a series of survey experiments.

Works using data from the 2016 CSPP Election Study include:

The 2012 CSPP Election Study was a three-wave panel study conducted during the fall of 2012. The study contacted adult respondents via Amazon's Mechanical Turk. The first two waves were collected during October 2012 prior to the general election, and the third wave was collected during November after the election. The study was focused on the psychological bases of voter reasoning, judgment, and choice, and it emphasized establishing causality with survey experiments, tracking change over time in response to campaign events, and the measurement of implicit political attitudes.

The study provided data for a number of works, including: