Hello!
My name is Lea Pradella, I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University, Denmark.
I study how people in democratic societies talk to one another about politics, both online and offline. My research examines the psychological and communicative processes that shape how citizens perceive, interpret, and respond to one another during political discussions. In particular, I investigate the conditions under which these interactions become hostile and polarized, as well as the factors that make constructive and cooperative dialogue possible.
My PhD Dissertation “Understanding the Other Side: Empathy Across The Political Divide” investigated the causes and consequences of empathy in interactions between political opponents. It was awarded the Best Dissertation Prize from the Aarhus University Research Foundation in 2025.
In my research, I use quantitative methods, specializing in experimental designs. I am currently expanding my expertise in quantitative text analysis and increasingly incorporate qualitative methods into my work.
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.
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: February 2026