Research

My Interests

Ideology, Beliefs, Belief Systems, Polarization, Misinformation, Populism, Computational Social Science

Research papers

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Cassario, A. L., Vallabha, S., Thompson, J. L., Carrillo, A., Solanki, P., Gnall, S. A., Rice, S., Wetherell, G., & Brandt, M. J. (2025). Cognitive ability but not cognitive reflection predicts political animosity and favouritism. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(2), e12814. Paper Supplemental Materials

Cassario, A. L., & Brandt, M. J. (2025). Testing theories of threat, individual difference, and ideology: Little evidence of personality-based individual differences in ideological responses to threat. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 16(6), 657-668.* Paper Supplemental Materials

* Recipient of the 2025 SPSP Student Publication Award

Wetherell, G., Thompson, J. L., Cassario, A. L., Brandt, M. J., Gnall, S., Rice, S., Solanki, P., Vallabha, S., & Carrillo, A. (2025). Do mismatches between individual and target group personality predict prejudice? Collabra: Psychology. 11, 136887 Paper

Cassario, A. L. (2023). Perceived vulnerability to infectious disease and perceived harmfulness are as predictive of citizen response to COVID-19 as partisanship. Politics and the Life Sciences, 42 (2), 277–290. Paper Supplemental Materials

Cox, K. S., Hanek, K. J., & Cassario, A. L. (2019). Redemption in a single low point story longitudinally predicts well-being: The incremental validity of life story elements. Journal of Personality, 87(5), 1009–1024.

Editor-Reviewed Publications

Brandt, M. J., & Cassario, A. L. (2023). Distinguishing between worldview conflict and shared alliances: Commentary on Pinsof, Sears, and Haselton. Psychological Inquiry, 34(3), 168–174. Paper

Accepted Stage 1 Registered Reports

Thompson, J. L., Cassario, A. L., Rice, S., Gnall, S. A., Carrillo, A., Solanki, P., Vallabha, S., Brandt, M. J., & Wetherell, G. (accepted). Registered report: Stress testing predictive models of ideological prejudice. PLOS ONE.

Book Chapters

Brandt, M. J., Vallabha, S., & Cassario, A. L. (2024). Is political identification a key for political animosity? In J. P. Forgas (Ed.), The Tribal Mind and the Psychology of Collectivism. Routledge.

Current Projects

Cassario, A. L., Triki, A.†, & Brandt, M. J. (Manuscript in preparation, target: Political Behavior). Threat exposure does not predict increased conservatism in three large experiments: Evidence from the U.S.

† denotes mentored undergraduate student

Triki, A.†, Cassario, A. L., & Brandt, M. J. (Manuscript in preparation, target: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General). There is more evidence for ideological symmetry than asymmetry in party cue effects across a representative sample of issues.

Cassario, A. L., Vallabha, S., & Brandt, M. J. (Manuscript in preparation, target: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology). Central attitudes are more resistant to change, but are not necessarily less responsive to persuasive interventions.

Cassario, A. L., & Brandt, M. J. (Ongoing, data collection complete, target: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology). Conviction cascades: Moral conviction transmits through belief system ties.

Brandt, M. J. & Cassario, A. L. (Ongoing, data collection complete). Within-person fluctuations in daily stress do not predict political prejudice or engagement, but higher between-person stress does: Evidence from an EMA study.

Cassario, A. L. (Ongoing, data collection). Exploring the effects of anticipated, actual, and perceived downward mobility on political attitudes.