Emily Rusting

Emily is a fourth-year Political Science and History double major completing a Political Science honors thesis under the guidance of Dr. Efrén Pérez. She is interested in the relationship between partisan antipathy and attitudes toward social outgroups. Specifically, her thesis focuses on how manipulating partisan affective polarization affects Americans’ attitudes toward racial, religious, and sexual orientation groups. To test her hypotheses, she is fielding a survey to a nationally representative sample of American adults. She hopes her work will improve our understanding of the consequences of rising affective polarization and inform strategies to reduce deep-rooted intergroup prejudices in American society. Beyond her research involvements, Emily tutors high schoolers with Bruin Partners and plays flute in the UCLA Marching Band. After graduating, she hopes to pursue a PhD in Political Science, focusing on American politics and political behavior.