Bethany Lee Albertson is an American Political psychologist. She is an Associate professor of political science at the University of Texas at Austin. Her co-authored book Anxious Politics: Democratic Citizenship in a Threatening World received the Robert E. Lane Award for being the best book in political psychology published in 2015.

Bethany Albertson
SpouseJosh
Children1
Academic background
EducationB.A., Political Science, 1999, Loyola Marymount University
M.A, 2001, PhD., Political Science, 2006, University of Chicago
ThesisMysterious ways: the mechanisms of religious persuasion in American politics (2006)
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Texas at Austin
University of Washington
Notable worksAnxious Politics: Democratic Citizenship in a Threatening World

Education

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Albertson attended Loyola Marymount University for her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999, earning a Hansard Fellowship.[1] She moved to Chicago to earn her Master's degree and PhD at the University of Chicago.[2]

Career

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Albertson joined the department of political science at the University of Washington as an assistant professor in 2006.[3] During her tenure at the school, she taught courses in American politics, voting and elections, and political psychology.[4] She also analyzed data prior to the 2008 United States presidential election of Barack Obama with psychology professor Anthony Greenwald. Together, they found that data from the Implicit Association Test was not a consistent or reliable representation of Democratic voters.[5] Albertson spent three years at the University of Washington before moving to Texas to live with her recently tenured husband, Josh, and their son.[6]

Albertson joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin as an assistant professor[7] but was worried about her chances at tenure during her 3rd year review.[6] In 2014, Albertson received the Josefina Paredes Endowed Teaching Award[8] and the Society for Political Methodology's Harold F. Gosnell Prize.[9] The following year, she co-published a book with Shana Kushner Gadarian titled Anxious Politics: Democratic Citizenship in a Threatening World, which detailed how anxiety can influence political elections. They found that when a threat is present, citizens tend to rely on government officials as "experts" and vote towards bills that are focused on protecting against said threat.[10] Beyond acts of terrorism, they also examined how the 2009 swine flu pandemic and the fictional smallpox outbreak, which they later re-examined in a modern context during the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] Their book received the Robert E. Lane Award for being the best book in political psychology published in 2015.[12] She was eventually promoted to Associate professor and awarded tenure in 2016.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Hansard Fellowship Recipients". bellarmine.lmu.edu. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "Bethany Albertson". sites.utexas.edu. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  3. ^ "DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE NEW APPOINTMENTS" (PDF). washington.edu. September 21, 2006. p. 5. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  4. ^ "WISER Affiliated Faculty". depts.washington.edu. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  5. ^ "Study suggests polls may overestimate support for Obama, underestimate backing for Clinton among Democrats". washington.edu. December 18, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Albertson, Bethany (March 2, 2016). "Operation Keep My Job". chronicle.com. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "The Burdine Chronicles" (PDF). liberalarts.utexas.edu. April 2010. p. 6. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  8. ^ "Liberal Arts Faculty Receive Teaching Awards, Fellowships". liberalarts.utexas.edu. April 18, 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  9. ^ "Bethany Albertson Wins Methodology Award". liberalarts.utexas.edu. June 9, 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  10. ^ Clifford, Scott (2016). "Review of Anxious Politics: Democratic Citizenship in a Threatening World". The Journal of Politics. 78 (4). doi:10.1086/688312. S2CID 157823403. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  11. ^ Coaston, Jane (April 28, 2020). "How anxiety changes political behavior". vox.com. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  12. ^ "Bethany Albertson's book selected for Robert E. Lane Award". liberalarts.utexas.edu. June 8, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
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Bethany Albertson publications indexed by Google Scholar