Carly Wayne

Carly Wayne is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at Washington University in St. Louis, with a PhD from the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the psychological underpinnings of political violence, including emotions in conflict, foreign policy decision-making, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She examines how cognitive and emotional processes influence public and elite behavior in conflict contexts.

Her work bridges international relations and political psychology, with key projects analyzing the long-term effects of political violence exposure, group dynamics in foreign policy, and radicalization pathways. She co-authored The Polythink Syndrome (2016 Alexander George Book Award winner) and Beyond Rationality (2021), which integrate behavioral approaches into political science frameworks.

• Education: PhD in Political Science, University of Michigan
• Funding: NSF grant ($300K) for studying political radicalization and de-radicalization via social media analysis
• Research Themes:
  • Emotion and cognition in conflict
  • Exposure to violence and public opinion
  • Group processes in foreign policy
  • Israeli-Palestinian conflict dynamics
  • White nationalist radicalization

Her research has been published in top journals including the American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, and World Politics. She collaborates with scholars like Taylor Carlson (WashU) and Erin Rossiter (Notre Dame) on interdisciplinary projects.

She currently leads a team analyzing a 180,000+ interaction dataset on Israeli-Palestinian violence (2010–2020) and investigates interpersonal communication pathways in radicalization. Her work emphasizes behavioral microfoundations and methodological innovation, including experiments and machine learning applications.