Frank Gonzalez

Frank is an Assistant Professor in the School of Government and Public Policy (SGPP). He received his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in May 2017. He received a Master of Arts in Political Science at UNL, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Delaware in 2011. His research strengths lay primarily in political psychology, experimental design and quantitative methods. His current research involves using theories from social neuroscience to understand how people place themselves in groups in society, how group-related attitudes interact with “higher-level” ideological principles, and how this interaction impacts political opinions and behaviors.

Frank is also heavily engaged in several other research agendas, which address questions such as: why people are liberal or conservative, what sorts of language Democratic and Republican elites use, how people perceive ideologically extreme and moderate candidates, how disease salience influences policy attitudes, how to cultivate democratic deliberation via group discussions, and why people feel the way they do about income inequality. He has been published in political science journals such as Political Communication and Political Research Quarterly as well as psychology journals such as Behavioural Brain Research and Judgment and Decision Making.