Emily Thorson

Associate Professor, Political Science Department

Senior Research Associate, Campbell Public Affairs Institute

Courses

2025 Spring
- PSC 400 Selected Topics - Designg Surveys & Experimnts
- PSC 300 Selected Topics - Poltcal Psych & Persuasion
2024 Fall
- PSC 712 Public Opinion and Communication
- PSC 314 Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior
2024 Spring
- PSC 400 Selected Topics - Designg Surveys & Experimnts
- PSC 722 Surveys and Experiments
2023 Fall
- PSC 314 Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior
- PSC 700 Selected Topics - Politics and Media
2023 Spring
- PSC 496 Distinction Thesis Seminar in Political Science II
- PSC 315 Politics and Media
- PSC 300 Selected Topics - Politicl Psycholgy/Persuasion

Highest degree earned

Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2013

Areas of Expertise

American politics, misinformation and misperceptions, experimental methodology, political psychology, media and politics

Selected Publications

Books
- Thorson, E. A., How news coverage of misinformation shapes perceptions and trust. Cambridge University Press, 2024.
- Thorson, E. A., The Invented State: Policy Misperceptions in the American Public. Oxford University Press, 2024.
- Misinformation and Mass Audiences. Southwell, B., Thorson, E. A. and Sheble, L. (eds.) University of Texas Press, 2018.
Journal Articles
- Gonzalez-Bailon, S., Lazer, D., Barbera, Pablo, P., Godel, W., Allcott, H., Brown, T., Crespo-Tenorio, A., Freelon, D., Gentzkow, M., Guess, A. M. and Thorson, E. A., "The Diffusion and Reach of (Mis) Information on Facebook During the US 2020 Election." Sociological Science, 2024.
- Thorson, E. A., Budak, C., Nyhan, B., Rothschild, D. and Watts, D., "Misunderstanding the harms of online misinformation." Nature, 2024.
- Allcott, H., Gentzkow, M., Mason, W., Wilkins, A., Barbera, Pablo, P., Brown, T., Cisneros, J. C., Crespo-Tenorio, A., Dimmery, D., Freelon, D. and Thorson, E. A., "The effects of Facebook and Instagram on the 2020 election: A deactivation experiment." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2024.
- Thorson, E. A., Trump, K., "The Effects of Wage Information on Support for Redistributive Spending." American Politics Research, 2024.
- González-Bailón, S., Lazer, D., Barberá, P., Zhang, M., Allcott, H., Brown, T., Crespo-Tenorio, A., Freelon, D., Gentzkow, M., Guess, A. M., Iyengar, S., Kim, Y. M., Malhotra, N., Moehler, D., Nyhan, B., Pan, J., Rivera, C. V., Settle, J., Thorson, E. A., Tromble, R., Wilkins, A., Wojcieszak, M., Kiewiet de Jonge, C., Franco, A., Mason, W., Stroud, N. J. and Tucker, J. A., "Asymmetric ideological segregation in exposure to political news on Facebook." Science, 2023.
- Guess, A. M., Malhotra, N., Pan, J., Barberá, P., Allcott, H., Brown, T., Crespo-Tenorio, A., Dimmery, D., Freelon, D., Gentzkow, M., González-Bailón, S., Kennedy, E., Kim, Y. M., Lazer, D., Moehler, D., Nyhan, B., Rivera, C. V., Settle, J., Thomas, D. R., Thorson, E. A., Tromble, R., Wilkins, A., Wojcieszak, M., Xiong, B., Kiewiet de Jonge, C., Franco, A., Mason, W., Stroud, N. J. and Tucker, J. A., "How do social media feed algorithms affect attitudes and behavior in an election campaign?." Science, 2023.
- Guess, A. M., Malhotra, N., Pan, J., Barberá, P., Allcott, H., Brown, T., Crespo-Tenorio, A., Dimmery, D., Freelon, D., Gentzkow, M., González-Bailón, S., Kennedy, E., Kim, Y. M., Lazer, D., Moehler, D., Nyhan, B., Rivera, C. V., Settle, J., Thomas, D. R., Thorson, E. A., Tromble, R., Wilkins, A., Wojcieszak, M., Xiong, B., Kiewiet de Jonge, C., Franco, A., Mason, W., Stroud, N. J. and Tucker, J. A., "Reshares on social media amplify political news but do not detectably affect beliefs or opinions." Science, 2023.
- Thorson, E. A., Nyhan, B., Settle, J. and Wojcieszak, M., "Like-minded sources on Facebook are prevalent but not polarizing." Nature, 2023.
- Coppock, A., Gross, K., Porter, E., Thorson, E. A. and Wood, T. J., "Conceptual Replication of Four Key Findings about Factual Corrections and Misinformation During the 2020 US Election: Evidence from Panel Survey Experiments." British Journal of Political Science, 2022.
- Thorson, E. A., Abdelaaty, L. E., "Misperceptions about refugee policy." American Political Science Review, 2022.
- Leeper, T., Thorson, E. A., "Should We Worry About Sponsorship-Induced Bias in Online Politi cal Science Surveys?." Journal of Experimental Political Science, 2020.
- Serazio, M., Thorson, E. A., "Weaponized patriotism and racial subtext in Kaepernick’s aftermath: The anti-politics of American sports fandom." Television & New Media, 2020.
Book Chapters
- Thorson, E. A., Farris, E., "Supplementing Qualitative Work with Surveys, and Vice Versa." In Doing Good Qualitative Research. Goodman, S., Cyr, J. (eds.) Oxford University Press, 2024.
- Thorson, E. A., Li, J., "The Effects of Corrections and Corrected Misinformation." In The Routledge Handbook of Populism and Misinformation. Waisbord, S., Tumber, H. (eds.) , 2021.
- Thorson, E. A., "Comparing Approaches to Journalistic Fact-Checking." In Misinformation and Mass Audiences. Southwell, B., Sheble, L. and Thorson, E. A. (eds.) University of Texas Press, 2018.
Book Reviews
- Thorson, E. A., "A Discussion of Adam Berinsky’s Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It." In Perspectives on Politics. , 2024.
- Thorson, E. A., Soroka, S. and Wlezien, C., "Information and Democracy: Public Policy and the News." Perspectives on Politics, 2022.