Emily Sydnor received her PhD from University of Virginia in 2015, her MA from University of Virginia in 2011, and her BA from George Washington University in 2008. 

She specializes in political communication and political psychology, and her research focuses on incivility in the media, its interaction with individual psychological traits, and its influence on political behavior.  She is also interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning, particularly assessment and community-engaged learning. 

Emily is affiliated with the American Political Science Association, the Midwest Political Science Association, and the International Society for Political Psychology.

My research draws on theories and methods from political science, communication and social psychology.  My interdisciplinary approach focuses on the implications of the tone of mediated discourse, and argues that Americans’ non-political predispositions—like their tolerance for conflict or argument—interact with this tone to dictate political behavior. 

Book: 

Disrespectful Democracy: The Psychology of Political Incivility, available from Columbia University Press. 

Peer-Reviewed Publications:

Sydnor, Emily. (2018). “Platforms for Incivility: Examining Perceptions Across Media” Political Communication 35 (1): 97-116.

Sydnor, Emily and Danielle Psimas.* (2017). “Easing Political Digestion: The Effects of News Curation on Citizens Behavior.” Journal of Information Technology & Politics 14(3): 189-213.

Sydnor, Emily and Nicole Pankiewicz. (2017). “Assessing Undergraduate Learning in Political Science: Development and Implementation of the PACKS Survey” PS: Political Science & Politics 50(1): 204-208.

Media and Other Publications: 

“Does Incivility Hurt Democracy? Here’s What Political Science Can Tell Us.” Washington Post, June 27, 2018. 

Invited Presentations

“Signaling Incivility: The Role of Speaker, Substance and Tone” (with Grace Atkins*). National Institute for Civil Discourse 2^nd Research Convening, Tucson, AZ (2017).

“The Interaction of Political Incivility and Psychological Conflict Orientation.” University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication Political Communication Lecture Series, Jan. 23, 2017.

“Polite Racism and Democratic Outrage: Identifying Political Incivility and Its Effects.” Southwestern University Race and Ethnicity Studies Symposium, Jan. 17, 2017.

“Civil Discourse.” Colonial Williamsburg Connect Webcast (2012)

Conference Papers

“Creating Trust in Government” (with Emily Pears). American Political Science Association Political Communication Preconference, Boston, MA (2018)

“What’s Your Excuse? Effects of Personal and Political Justifications for Flip-Flopping (with Daniel Folsom* and Boris Heersink). Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL (2018).

“Signaling Incivility: The Role of a Speaker’s Race and Use of Uncivil Language” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2017).

“The Emotional Consequences of Political Incivility and Psychological Conflict Orientation.” European Consortium of Political Research Joint Session Workshop on Political Incivility in Parliament, Party Competition and Political Communication, Nottingham, England (2017).

“The Emotional Consequences of Political Incivility and Psychological Conflict Orientation.” Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL (2017).

“Signaling Incivility: The Role of Speaker, Substance and Tone.” (with Grace Atkins). Political Communication Preconference to the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA (2016).

“Easing Political Digestion: The Effects of News Curation on Citizens.” (with Danielle Psimas). Political Communication Preconference to the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

“Uncivil Exposure: The Relationship Between Political Incivility, Conflict Orientation, and Selective Exposure.” Annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL (2014)

“Psychological Moderators of Information Acquisition: The Case of Conflict Orientation.” Annual meeting of the International Society for Political Psychology, Herzliya, Israel (2013)

“Fighting Words: The Effects of Conflict Orientation and Civility on Individuals’ Willingness to Engage in Political Discussion.” Annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL (2013)

“Ready to Engage: Using Implicit and Explicit Measures of Individual Conflict Orientation to Understand Media Consumption and Political Participation.” Annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL (2012)

Conference Posters

“The Interaction of Political Incivility and Psychological Conflict Orientation.” Annual meeting of the Society for Personal and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX (2017).

“Conflict Resolution through Selective Exposure: The Effects of Conflict Orientation on Media Choice.” Annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL (2013)

“Assessing Student Learning in Political Science.” (with Nicole Pankiewicz and Lynn Sanders) Annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL (2013)