Kayla E. Wolf

Broadly, my research interests focus on how identities, like gender, race, religion, and education impact individuals' political attitude formation and behavior. My dissertation explains how college education affects many behavioral and attitudinal outcomes that are often taken for granted in the literature. I put forth a novel theory of empathy activation, explaining what occurs during the traditional college experience to make voters who go to college so systematically different from voters who do not. I argue that the increased exposure to new theories, cultures, and people in college activates outgroup empathy and in turn alters students’ political beliefs and ideology. This activated empathy has political ramifications as it informs decision-making and ideological self-identification, particularly in regards to issues about marginalized groups.

I have a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Theology from Fordham University and a Master's degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California. 

Prior to starting my PhD at USC, I worked at TED-Ed, the educational branch of TED Talks. When I'm not hopelessly staring at code or thinking deeply about gendered socialization, I enjoy playing beach volleyball, watching football (go Eagles), practicing for my eventual debut on Jeopardy, and backpacking through as many places as possible.