Stanley Feldman

About

Stanley Feldman has been a professor of Political Science at Stony Brook University for the past 30 years. He received his Bachelor of Art at Stony Brook and then attended the University of Minnesota, where he graduated with a Ph.D. in Political Science. He was the associate director for the Stony Brook University Center for Survey Research from 2000 to 2015. He also served as a co-editor of the journal Political Psychology from 2005 to 2010 and is a past president of the International Society for Political Psychology. His current research focuses on political ideology and political psychology, specifically the origins of political preferences, the structure of political ideology and values, and the psychological bases of attitudes and opinions. He is working on projects to understand the effects of authoritarianism on partisanship, voting, and political conflict, as well as examining how media consumption influences emotions like anger and the acceptance and dissemination of fake news in American politics. His work also explores the impact of personality characteristics on political attitudes, the role of emotions in politics, and public responses to terrorism and threat.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Law
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Criminology
• Aerospace engineering
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Understanding the Determinants of Political Ideology: Implications of Structural Complexity

  Political Psychology · 2013-06-12 · 735 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  There has been a substantial increase in research on the determinants and consequences of political ideology among political scientists and social psychologists. In psychology, researchers have examined the effects of personality and motivational factors on ideological orientations as well as differences in moral reasoning and brain functioning between liberals and conservatives. In political science, studies have investigated possible genetic influences on ideology as well as the role of person…

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• 9. On the Distinct Political Effects of Anxiety and Anger

  2019-12-31 · 180 citations

  article
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• Easing the Heavy Hand: Humanitarian Concern, Empathy, and Opinion on Immigration

  British Journal of Political Science · 2013-11-26 · 119 citations

  articleSenior author

  The bulk of the public opinion research on immigration identifies the factors leading to opposition to immigration. In contrast, we focus on a previously unexplored factor yielding support for immigration: humanitarianism. Relying upon secondary analysis of national public opinion survey data and an original survey experiment, we demonstrate that humanitarian concern significantly decreases support for restrictive immigration policy. Results from our survey experiment demonstrate that in an info…

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• Advancing the Measurement of Authoritarianism

  Political Behavior · 2021 · 76 citations

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• The Interplay of Empathy and Individualism in Support for Social Welfare Policies

  Political Psychology · 2019-09-26 · 61 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Public support for government welfare programs is grounded in two potentially conflicting factors: a belief in individualism which undermines support for welfare assistance and the capacity for empathy which potentially enhances support. However, empathy is an expensive psychological commodity subject to pervasive up‐ and down‐regulation. This article examines the degree to which a belief in individualism affects the expression of compassionate support for a person in need among those with the c…

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Frequent coauthors

• Leonie Huddy

  30 shared

• Pamela Johnston Conover

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  12 shared

• Peter A. Soyka

  Arizona State University

  11 shared

• George E. Marcus

  7 shared

• John L. Sullivan

  Muhlenberg College

  6 shared

• James R. Morrow

  6 shared

• John Sprague

  5 shared

• Robert Huckfeldt

  University of California System

  5 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Political Science

  University of Minnesota

• B.A.

  Stony Brook

Awards & honors

• Past president of the International Society for Political Ps…

Similar researchers at Stony Brook University

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• Andrew Deltonh-27