Under the direction of John Blanchar, Ph.D., the Social and Political Psychology Lab at the University of Minnesota Duluth investigates the psychological bases of political attitudes and behavior.

My primary research program is guided by a basic but powerful observation: Like minds attract, and unlike minds repel. I study the who, when, how, and why of social and geographic political sorting: how people cope with poor ideological and moral fit where they live, and the consequences for belonging, political polarization and intolerance, and collective action for social change.

• Do politics influence whom people form relationships with, which news sources they prefer, and where they decide to live and work?

• How are abortion laws shaping domestic migration in the United States?

• When do people prefer to move away versus stay and fight for change?

• When and why do people display or signal their political and moral values to community members?

• How do moralized attitudes affect social interactions and well-being?

• Why can't people seem to agree on what's real or true anymore?

• Do citizens trust their democratic elections? Why or why not?

• What's so alluring about tradition? Why is social change difficult?