Meet the Team

Joanne Miller

University of Delaware, USA

ISPP, President

Rosario Aguilar

Newcastle University, UK)

ISPP, Program Co-chair

Ka-Ming (Bo) Chan

Newcastle University, UK

ISPP, Program Co-chair

Aleksander Ksiazkiewicz

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, US

ISPP, Program Co-chair

The International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) invites scholars from a broad range of disciplines—political science, psychology, sociology, economics, anthropology, media and communication, gender studies, and beyond—to submit proposals for the 2026 Annual Meeting. Under the theme Finding Common Ground in Uncertain Times, we seek innovative research that illuminates how political psychology can help bridge divides and foster collaboration across diverse societies.

Communities face unprecedented challenges across the globe—from escalating political polarization, climate crises, and public-health emergencies to rapid technological change and the spread of misinformation. These “uncertain times” test our capacity to engage constructively, negotiate conflict, and sustain pluralistic democratic norms. Political psychology, with its tools for understanding identity, cognition, emotion, and group dynamics, is uniquely poised to diagnose these fractures and design pathways toward shared understanding. We particularly welcome submissions that address topics such as (but not limited to):

Intergroup trust & dialogue: Psychological foundations of trust-building, empathy, and perspective-taking across ideological, ethnic, and national boundaries.
Polarization & persuasion: Cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying political persuasion, echo chambers, and strategies for depolarization.
Collective resilience: How social identities and collective narratives contribute to communities’ ability to adapt to crises (e.g., pandemics, climate disasters).
Deliberative & collaborative governance: Psychological processes that support meaningful citizen participation, consensus-building, and integrative policymaking.
Leadership & mobilization: Motivations, messaging, and behavioral dynamics of leaders, activists, and social movements seeking to either bridge or deepen societal divides.
Digital media & discourse: The role of social platforms, algorithms, online networks and other in shaping political attitudes, norms of civility, and opportunities for constructive engagement.

We are excited to announce the addition of the following section for the Newcastle Conference:

Critical Political Psychological Approaches to the Study of Violence and Oppression. The aim of this section is to feature political psychological approaches that examine the ways power, identity, ideology, and affect shape individual and collective experiences of violence by interrogating dominant narratives, exposing structural injustices, and exploring the political psychological impacts of oppression, resistance, and state or institutionalized violence. In keeping with the conference theme, Finding Common Ground in Uncertain Times, we especially encourage submissions that foster transformative insights into the conditions that sustain violence and address the possibilities for shared understanding and meaningful change.

We also invite proposals for a virtual “conference within a conference” to be held during the first day of the in person conference.

All scholars—whether longstanding ISPP members or newcomers to the field—are encouraged to participate and contribute their unique perspectives. We invite theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions—qualitative, quantitative, experimental, computational, and mixed methods alike. Interdisciplinary, comparative, and policy-oriented work is highly encouraged. All types of submissions (proposals for individual papers, panels, roundtables, and posters) on any topic in political psychology are equally welcome. We encourage the inclusion of discussants for panel proposals.

The conference will offer participants the opportunity to learn from, and interact with, distinguished keynote speakers addressing psychological processes at the interface of nationhood, social identity, and democratic practice. Per longtime ISPP practice, there will be an opportunity to attend a panel discussion with the editors of the Society’s flagship journals, Political Psychology and Advances in Political Psychology. We will also offer mentoring events, networking opportunities for early-career scholars, the Scholars Under Threat Symposium, and prior to the conference, the ISPP Academy.

SECTION CHAIRS

To capture the diversity of ISPP there are 14 sections with designated Section Chairs. As you can see below. Section Chairs are responsible to review all conference submissions made to their designated section.

1. Finding Common Ground in Uncertain Times | Cara Wong, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Mateo Villamizar Chaparro, Catholic University of Uruguay

2. Conflict, Violence, and Terrorism | Mengyao Li, Queen's University Blefast; Slieman Halabi, University of Wuppertal

3. Intergroup Relations | Aya Adra, University Pompeu Fabra; Thomas Nelson, Ohio State University

4. Leadership and Political Personality | Megan Remmel, Bradley University

5. Political Behavior, Participation, and Civic Engagement | Mollie Cohen, Purdue University; Mathilde van Ditmars, University of Milan

6. Public Opinion and Political Communication | Sebastian Popa, Newcastle University; Brian Boyle, Newcastle University

7. Political Culture, Identity, and Language | Kristin Lunz Trujilo, Boston College

8. Social Inequality, Social Change, and Civic Development | Silvia Galdi, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli

9. International Relations, Globalization, and Macropolitical Issues | Marina Duque, Newcastle University; Ronan Tse-Min Fu, Academia Sinica

10. Biological, Evolutionary, and Computational Approaches | Hannah Nam, Brooklyn College

11. Race, Gender, Ethnicity, and Religion | Rongbo Jin, Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen

12. New Theoretical and Methodological Developments | Luca Bernardi, The University of Liverpool; Maarja Lühiste, Newcastle University

13. Virtual (This option is intended to accommodate individuals who are unable to attend the 2026 conference in person). | Laura Taylor, University College Dublin (ISPP VP of Conferences)

14. Critical Political Psychological Approaches to the Study of Violence and Oppression | Elif Sandal Öndal, Bielefeld University; Mete Sefa Uysal, University of Exeter

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