Patrick Liu

1/ Will voters participate in the primary of a party they oppose to prevent the nomination of a candidate they fear? In a new paper in AJPS with @HayleyCohen, we study crossover voting using surveys and a large field experiment (N=83,902) in the 2024 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aj…

After years of doubt, drafts, and disbelief, my first—and likely last—book is finally out. It’s about how entertainment media shapes American politics. If you preorder (a.co/d/ctGUWkZ), I’d love to send a small token of thanks: forms.gle/1YrkYX2t2nPCTg…

Our study draws renewed attention to the distinction between beliefs and attitudes. It also showcases how LLMs can be used to peer into belief systems. We welcome any and all feedback!

Across 2 studies, focal+distal counterarguments reduced focal+distal belief strength (respectively). But focal args had larger and more durable effects on downstream attitudes. We explore mechanisms in the paper, e.g., ppl recalled focal args better than distal args a week later.

🧵 Why do facts often change beliefs but not attitudes? In a new WP with @YamilRVelez and Scott Clifford, we caution against interpreting this as rigidity or motivated reasoning. Often, the beliefs *relevant* to people's attitudes are not what researchers expect.

Thrilled to see my paper with @patrickpliu in the APSR! We address a crucial question in political psychology — whether persuasive attempts targeting deeply held issues cause attitudes to grow more extreme or encourage moderation — using tailored AI-powered surveys.

Do attitudes grow more extreme when challenged? In a new working paper, @PatrickPLiu and I use GPT-3 to expose people to tailored arguments challenging deeply held issue positions. Across three pre-registered studies, we fail to find evidence of attitude polarization.