Kassra Oskooii

Associate Professor, American Politics, Political Psychology and Race and Ethnic Politics; Director of Internships

  • Newark DE UNITED STATES

Prof. Oskooii's research expertise include political psychology, public opinion, voting rights and redistricting.

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Spotlight

2 min

Election 2024: Providing insight during a pivotal campaign season

Voter behavior and emotion, civil discourse, the spread of misinformation, the role of gender and race in politics and conspiracy theories are among the many topics University of Delaware experts can comment on during this final stretch of the 2024 campaign. David Redlawsk Professor of Political Science and International Relations Expertise: Political psychologist who studies voter behavior and emotion, focuses on how voters process political information to make their decisions. He has written several books on politics, worked behind the scenes on campaigns and ran for local office. Dannagal Young Professor of Communication Director of the Center for Political Communication Expertise: The spread of misinformation in politics and the intersection of entertainment and information, with an emphasis on political satire, political media effects, public opinion and the psychology of political humor. Kassra Oskooii Professor of Political Science and International Relations Expertise: Focuses on the interplay between the contextual and psychological determinants of political opinions and behaviors of high and low status group members. Erin Cassese Professor of Political Science and International Relations Expertise: Explores the behavior of women as voters and candidates for political office, and studies political psychology, gender stereotypes, public opinion, elections and the intersection of religion and politics. Yasser Payne Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies Expertise: Research program also focuses on Black racial identity; street identity; economic and educational opportunity or the impact of structural violence. Tim Shaffer SNF Ithaca Director Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse Expertise: Civil discourse in politics; can talk about partisanship, polarization and their impact on media outlets. advancement of democratic practices by focusing on the role of civic professionals in institutional settings. Alice Ba Professor and acting chair, Political Science and International Relations. Expertise: Her work on the international relations of East and Southeast Asia examines the structures, processes, and systemic effects of regionalism and cooperative regime building, as well as relations between smaller and major powers. Joanne Miller Professor of American Politics, Research Methods and Political Psychology Expertise: Studies political psychology, with an emphasis on political propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theories. Muqtedar Khan Professor of Comparative Politics, International Relations and Political Theory Expertise: Issues surrounding U.S. foreign policy in the Muslim World as well as national security and counter-terrorism. To speak with any of these experts, simply visit their profle and click on the "contact" button, which will send a message directly to them (while also copying UD's media relations team).

Kassra OskooiiDavid RedlawskDannagal YoungYasser PayneTimothy J. Shaffer

1 min

Exploring the role of social media in fomenting hatred and prejudice in society

Each day, it feels like there's a new social media platform to join, the latest one being Threads. While social media like Threads, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook can be a space to bring people from different corners of the world together, it has also become a way to spread hatred and prejudice. Kassra Oskooii, associate professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware, studies the interplay between contextual and psychological determinants of political opinions on minority groups. He recently published work examining at how social media news consumption over the last two presidential cycles has heightened anti-Muslim views. He noted that social media works by creating information bubbles that echo and amplify views, and when political information is left unregulated, individuals can be exposed to false and prejudicial content that can shape their views toward marginalized groups. Oskooii's research was recently cited in the 2023 Economic Report of the President. He can speak about the role that social media continues to play on politics and everyday society. To arrange an interview, simply click on Professor Oskooii's profile and press the contact button.

Kassra Oskooii

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Biography

Kassra AR Oskooii, Ph.D. (University of Washington, 2016) joined the department in fall of 2016. His research and teaching focuses on the interplay between the contextual and psychological determinants of political opinions and behaviors of high and low status group members. Dr. Oskooii also has research and teaching expertise in the area of voting rights and redistricting. Due to this expertise, he has served as an expert witness or consultant in voting rights related matters in states such as Maryland, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Washington.

Dr. Oskooii's research has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals such as the British Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Political Psychology, Public Opinion Quarterly, Sociological Methods and Research, Perspectives on Politics, Electoral Studies, Urban Affairs Review, Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, State Politics and Policy Quarterly and the Journal of Public Policy.

Dr. Oskooii has also contributed to the development of the eiCompare Ecological Inference R Package, which has been used in numerous academic papers and voting rights cases across the country. More information about his research and teaching expertise can be found on his website​.

Industry Expertise

Public Policy
Political Organization

Areas of Expertise

Race and Ethnic Politics
Political Psychology
Public Opinion
Voting Rights
Redistricting
Demography

Media Appearances

Enlighten Me: UD professor authors study on connection between social media news use and anti-Muslim views

Delaware Public Media  online

2023-07-21

The number of hate crimes and attacks on minority groups is rising and social media is exacerbating the issue.

That’s according to a recent study cited in the 2023 Economic Report of the President and co-authored by Kassra Oskooii, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware.

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UD professor's research cited in White House economic report | UDaily

University of Delaware  online

2023-05-09

“You get an unexpected email from the White House and you’re going to be suspicious,” explained Oskooii with a chuckle. An associate professor of political science and international relations, he did some sleuthing and soon discovered that the email was legit.

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Caroline County NAACP et al v Federalsburg

ACLU of Maryland  online

2023-02-22

Seven Black voters joined the Caroline County Branch of the NAACP and the Caucus of African American Leaders to file suit against Federalsburg in federal district court in Baltimore under the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. They are challenging the racially discriminatory and unlawful at-large, staggered-term election system that has kept Black people out of Federalsburg municipal government for 200 years.

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Articles

Perspectives on Politics

Perspectives on Politics

2021

How do involuntary interactions with authoritarian institutions shape political engagement? The policy feedback literature suggests that interactions with authoritarian policies undercut political participation. However, research in racial and ethnic politics offers reason to believe that these experiences may increase citizens’ engagement. Drawing on group attachment and discrimination research, we argue that mobilization is contingent on individuals’ political psychological state. Relative to their counterparts, individuals with a politicized group identity will display higher odds of political engagement when exposed to authoritarian institutions. To evaluate our theory, we draw on the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Study to examine the experiences of Blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans. For all subgroups and different types of institutions, we find that, for those with a politicized group identity, institutional contact is associated with higher odds of participation. Our research modifies the classic policy feedback framework, which neglects group-based narratives in the calculus of collective action.

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Estimating candidate support in Voting Rights Act cases: Comparing iterative EI and EI-R× C methods

Sociological Methods & Research

2022

Scholars and legal practitioners of voting rights are concerned with estimating individual-level voting behavior from aggregate-level data. The most commonly used technique, King’s ecological inference (EI), has been questioned for inflexibility in multiethnic settings or with multiple candidates. One method for estimating vote support for multiple candidates in the same election is called ecological inference: row by columns (R×C). While some simulations suggest that R×C may produce more precise estimates than the iterative EI technique, there has not been a comprehensive side-by-side comparison of the two methods using real election data that analysts and legal practitioners often rely upon in courts.

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Hate, amplified? Social media news consumption and support for anti-Muslim policies

Journal of Public Policy

2022

Research finds that social media platforms’ peer-to-peer structures shape the public discourse and increase citizens’ likelihood of exposure to unregulated, false, and prejudicial content. Here, we test whether self-reported reliance on social media as a primary news source is linked to racialised policy support, taking the case of United States Muslims, a publicly visible but understudied group about whom significant false and prejudicial content is abundant on these platforms. Drawing on three original surveys and the Nationscape dataset, we find a strong and consistent association between reliance on social media and support for a range of anti-Muslim policies. Importantly, reliance on social media is linked to policy attitudes across the partisan divide and for individuals who reported holding positive or negative feelings towards Muslims. These findings highlight the need for further investigation into the political ramification of information presented on contemporary social media outlets, particularly information related to stigmatised groups.

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Accomplishments

Provost Teaching Fellow

Present

Nominee of UD’s Excellence in Teaching Award

2023

Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Best Paper Award, APSA

2019

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Education

University of Washington

PhD

Political Science and Government

2016

University of Washington

BA

Political Science and Government

2008

Event Appearances

"The Significance of Politicized Group Identities: Re-examining the Relationship between Contact with Punitive Political Institutions and Political Participation"

(2019) Annual American Political Science Association Conference (APSA)  Washington, DC

“Kissing Up and Kicking Down: How Immigrant Resentment Impacts Latinx Support for Donald Trump and Restrictive Immigration Policies"

(2021) Annual Midwest Political Science Association Conference (MPSA)  

"How do Political Attacks Affect Racial and Ethnic Self-Identities?”

(2021) Annual Midwest Political Science Association Conference (APSA)  

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