Hello!
My name is Lea Pradella, I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University, Denmark.
My research lies at the intersection of political science, psychology, and communication. I study political interactions among citizens in democratic societies, with particular attention to how people engage across political differences, examining the causes, dynamics, and consequences of disagreement, hostility, and constructive dialogue.
I am currently involved in two major research projects:
Research on Online Political Hostility (ROPH) Project, where we investigate causes, consequences and counter-strategies of online political hostility.
Partisan Peer Pressure and Affective Polarization (PEERPOL) Project, where we investigate how peer-to-peer conversations shape political and affective polarization.
My PhD Dissertation “Understanding the Other Side: Empathy Across The Political Divide” explored the causes and consequences of empathy in interactions between political opponents. It was awarded the Aarhus University Research Foundation Best PhD Prize in 2025.
In my research, I use quantitative methods, specializing in surveys and survey experiments. Additionally, I am currently expanding my skills in quantitative text analysis and exploring quasi-experimental designs and field experiments to study political interactions in real-world settings.
If you are interested in my research or a potential collaboration, please reach out!
Interests
- Political Psychology
- Political Behavior
- Political Communication
- Empathy
- Inter-group Relations
- Social Media Behavior
- Experimental Methods
- Causal Inference
Education
- PhD Political Science
Aarhus University, Denmark - MSc Political Science
Aarhus University, Denmark - BA Political Science, Minor in Psychology
University of Mannheim, Germany
Latest update: October 2025