Research
Dissertation Project
My dissertation project aims to study the role of anxiety in the face of threat has on shaping political behavior. Using the case of Latine in the United States, I create a theoretical framework for how group-based emotions can have distinct behavioral impacts for members of marginalized groups. That is, while anxiety can have demobilizing effects at the individual level, when people feel anxious on behalf of their group, they are more likely to mobilize. My project investigates who in particular mobilizes when anxious and how exactly anxiety impacts behavior.
Emotions, Threat, and Politics
Incel Ideology and Political Violence
Expanding from my dissertation work, another area of research I hope to explore is expanding our understanding, as a discipline, of the role of emotions in the political behavior of marginalized communities. A large majority of the literature looks primarily at the negative impacts of threat. The ways in which threat mobilizes or demobilizes or negatively impacts intraminority coalition building. Beyond my dissertation work, my broader research agenda aims to investigate the positive emotions at play. That is, how do hope, optimism, pride, or even group-based love impact how members of marginalized groups respond to threat? I believe part of what drives responses to discriminatory contexts and/or rhetoric is not just negative emotions (i.e anger or anxiety) but a sense of love we feel for our group.
A second area of research I hope to develop examines the ideological dimensions of incel culture and its implications for political behavior and violence. Existing scholarship on incels has largely focused on online communities and self-identified group members. My work takes a different approach, arguing that incel ideology constitutes a novel and measurable ideological construct — distinct from existing psychological and ideological measures — that has diffused beyond subcultural spaces into the broader male population. I am interested in how this ideology shapes political attitudes, electoral behavior, and support for political violence, and in the role that loneliness and technology-mediated diffusion play in its spread. This project sits at the intersection of political psychology, gender and politics, and the study of political extremism.
Published Work
1. Alegre, Claudia. Cobian, Jessica. Pérez, Efrén. 2023. “Xenophobia”. Encyclopedia of Political Sociology.
2. Barreto, Matt. Alegre, Claudia. Bailey, Isaiah. Davis, Alexandria. Ferrer, Joshua. Nguy, Joyce. Palmisano, Christopher and Robertson, Crystal. 2023. "Black Lives Matter and the Racialized Support for the January 6th Insurrection." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
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3. Robertson, Crystal. Davis, Alexandria. Nguy, Joyce. Alegre, Claudia. Comandur, Samyu. Frasure, Lorrie. 2025. “Views on Men Behaving Badly: Male Public Opinion and the 2021 Capitol Insurrection”. Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics.
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4. Laurison, Daniel. Broun, Rachel. Diaz, Kelly. Alegre, Claudia. Orr, Lydia. Rastogi, Ankit. 2025. ‘'It's Like a Disconnection’ – Declining Support for Democrats Among Poor and Working-Class Black and Latine People”. Ethnic and Racial Studies.
Manuscripts in Progress
1. Alegre, Claudia, Pérez, Efrén, Reny, Tyler. "A Different Feeling: How Collective Emotions Drive Political Engagement Among Racially Stigmatized People". In Development.
2. Alegre, Claudia. "Beyond the Subculture: Incel Ideology, Mainstream Diffusion, and Political Violence.". In Development.
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3. Broun, Rachel, Daniel Laurison, Claudia Alegre, Kelly Diaz, Lydia Orr, Elizabeth Zack, Chris Santizo-Malafronti, and Barbara Truc Pham. "Not (Just) Barriers: How Poor and Working-Class Black People See Politics." Working paper prepared for the Brennan Center Convening on the Racial Turnout Gap, NYU, March 2024. In Development.