Ph.D. Candidate
she/her
About
Brianna is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Michigan. Her dissertation "Shooting on Fifth Avenue: Investigating the Conceptualization, Measurement, and Undemocratic Consequences of Parasocial Relationships in U.S. Politics" focuses on how parasocial relationships in U.S. politics affect public opinion and political attitudes, with an eye towards the future implications of political parasocial relationships in an increasingly media-like political system.
Her other work has explored partisanship and attributions of blame for interparty hostility, the politicization of science and scientists, and the reasons behind non-adoption of pro-social health behaviors in the Covid-19 Pandemic. She is also conducting ongoing research on the implications of generative AI use in surveys and on the efficacy and limitations of interventions meant to shift group-level perceptions of police-involved shootings, as part of a multi-site, multi-study project in the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, funded by the Russell Sage Foundation.
