Frank Gonzalez

Associate Professor, Political Scientist & Researcher

Research Expertise

political science, political psychology, American politics, democratic norms, polarization, race and racism, prejudice, wealth inequality, experimental methods, survey methodology, statistical analysis

About

I am an Associate Professor in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. There, I direct the Psychology of Inequality and Politics (PIP) Lab, and am an affiliate of the Arizona Policy Lab. I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in 2017 and my Bachelor's in Psychology from the University of Delaware in 2011. My areas of expertise include: American politics, political psychology, political neuroscience (including use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging), public opinion, polarization, democratic norms, race and politics, wealth inequality, statistics, survey methodology, implicit attitudes, and experimental design. I study political psychology with a particular focus on public attitudes regarding democracy and polarization, race and racism, wealth inequality, partisan/ideological conflict, and political tolerance. I mainly use observational survey data and a variety of experimental methods in my work. I am particularly interested in political cognition and nonconscious processes, and so often use indirect measures (e.g., implicit associations, cognitive and behavioral tasks) to gauge various levels of political thinking. I also use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in some work (previously funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF)) to investigate the neural processes underlying political cognition related to partisan as well as race-related evaluations. My work 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, Personality and Individual Differences, and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: B. I was awarded the Best Dissertation Award from the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) in 2018 for my work on the neural/psychological mechanisms of support for government assistance, and the Best Paper in American Politics award from the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) in 2021 for co-authored work on political intolerance. My current book project with Jeff Spinner-Halev at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln investigates how Americans grapple with support for democratic norms and ideals of political equality while experiencing hierarchy and inequality in their everyday lives.

Publications

Complexities of the Status‐Legitimacy Hypothesis: Authoritarian Personality and System Justification Across Class
Social Science Quarterly
2025
The neural mechanisms of race priming in American politics
Journal of Experimental Political Science
2024
Implicit-explicit discrepancies regarding racial attitudes among U.S. Whites
The Journal of Social Psychology
2023
Racial and ethnic variation in the negativity bias–ideology connection: A registered report
Politics and the Life Sciences
2022
Racial resentment predicts eugenics support more robustly than genetic attributions
Personality and Individual Differences
2021
Political uncertainty moderates neural evaluation of incongruent policy positions
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
2021
Unresolved Politics: Implicit Ambivalence and Political Cognition
Political Research Quarterly
2020
Effects of disease salience and xenophobia on support for humanitarian aid
Politics and the Life Sciences
2017
Who Can Deviate from the Party Line? Political Ideology Moderates Evaluation of Incongruent Policy Positions in Insula and Anterior Cingulate Cortex
Social Justice Research
2017
Political conservatism predicts asymmetries in emotional scene memory
Behavioural Brain Research
2016
Speaking Different Languages or Reading from the Same Script? Word Usage of Democratic and Republican Politicians
Political Communication
2015
Reflective liberals and intuitive conservatives: A look at the Cognitive Reflection Test and ideology
Judgment and Decision Making
2015
Love Thy Neighbor? Trust in Foreigners and Support for Transnational Policies
Political Research Quarterly
2015
Deliberative Public Engagement with Science
SpringerBriefs in Psychology
2018
Campaigning on “Political Correctness”
Political Communication, Culture, and Society
2023
Hierarchy, American Identity, and Support for Anti-Poverty Efforts
Liberal Nationalism and Its Critics
2019
No Longer “Beyond our Scope”
New Directions in Public Opinion
2019
Conformity: The Power of Social Influences
Political Science Quarterly
2020

Education

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

PhD Political Science, Political Science / 2017

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

MA Political Science, Political Science / 2013

University of Delaware

BA Psychology Major Political Science Minor, Psychology; Political Science / 2011

Experience

University of Arizona

Associate Professor School of Government and Public Policy / July, 2024Present

Serves as an Associate Professor within the School of Government and Public Policy.

Assistant Professor School of Government and Public Policy / August, 2017June, 2024

Served as an Assistant Professor within the School of Government and Public Policy.

Psychology of Inequality and Politics (PIP) Lab UA

Director / January, 2018Present

Directs the Psychology of Inequality and Politics (PIP) Lab at the University of Arizona, focusing on research in political psychology and neuroscience.

Political Science Behavioral Lab, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Lab Manager / August, 2015May, 2017

Managed operations for the Political Science Behavioral Lab.

Political Science Graduate Student Association, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

President / August, 2014May, 2015

Served as President of the Political Science Graduate Student Association.

Representative to the Graduate Student Association / August, 2013May, 2014

Represented the Political Science Graduate Student Association to the Graduate Student Association.

Psychology Club, University of Delaware

President / September, 2010May, 2011

Served as President of the Psychology Club.

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