Hannah Waldfogel

Department: Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Faculty Adviser: Eldar Shafir
Year of Study:
Undergraduate School: Northwestern University
Undergraduate Major: Psychology

Personal Bio

Hello! I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Kahneman-Treisman Center for Behavioral Science & Public Policy at SPIA. I earned my PhD in Management & Organizations from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and my BA in Psychology (also from Northwestern). As an undergrad, I joined 5 psychology labs and worked on topics ranging from developmental psychopathology to organizational behavior.

Fun Fact

My (not so) fun fact is I'm allergic to 25+ things (including cats). Despite this, I have two cats, and their fun fact is they have lots of extra toes.

Research Pitch

I am interested in how people make sense of the sociopolitical world and, in particular, what shapes people's understanding of things like social inequality, political participation, DEI initiatives, etc. My research program aims to develop a better understanding of how people's perceptions of their social and political realities to inform efforts to change perceptions and motivate prosocial behavior. I use a multi-method approach incorporating a range of data sources, including experimental and survey methods, archival data, text analysis, field studies, and web-scraping approaches.

For example, in ongoing work, I examine how people construe (or make sense of) political participation. In particular, I explore whether and how people perceive the duty to vote– as either an independent duty to the self or as an interdependent duty to others. I find that people’s naturalistic use of interdependent (vs. independent) language when describing voting predicts increases in perceived duty, and in turn, political engagement intentions. In addition, experimentally reflecting on interdependence (vs. independence) predicts increases in perceived voting duty. This work has important implications for voter turnout interventions, suggesting that the language around voting (and whether it emphasizes interdependence or independence) may meaningfully shape political engagement.

Upcoming Programs That I Am Attending:

Plans for Summer 2025

Not available to participate in Summer ReMatch+ program.