Dannagal Young

Dannagal Goldthwaite Young is a professor of communication and political science at the University of Delaware and director of the university's Center for Political Communication, where she leads research on political and media psychology, public opinion, media effects, and democratic health. Young earned her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication. Her research focuses on the intersection of psychology, politics, and media, with foundational work on political satire and the development of the counterargument disruption model of political humor, a framework explaining how humor reduces audience resistance to persuasive messages.

Young is the author of two books. "Irony and Outrage: The Polarized Landscape of Rage, Fear, and Laughter in the United States" examines political satire and outrage media as extensions of the psychological profiles of liberals and conservatives. The book received the Roderick Hart Book Award from the Political Communication division of the National Communication Association. In "Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation," Young explores the psychological appeal of misinformation and offers a framework for understanding partisan belief. She also co-edited "A Crisis of Civility: Political Discourse and its Discontents" with researchers from the National Institute for Civil Discourse.

Young has published more than 70 academic articles and book chapters, and her work has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, and The Atlantic. She contributes op-eds and essays to Vox, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, and has appeared on CNN, PBS NewsHour, ABC News, and NPR. Her TED Talk on psychology and political behavior has been viewed over 2 million times. Her University of Delaware course "Propaganda and Persuasion" is available through The Great Courses from Wondrium.

Young received the Dr. Robert M. Entman Award in Democracy and Political Communication from the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University. She has also received the University of Delaware Excellence in Teaching Award and is a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Young has spoken at the Harvard Kennedy School and the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation Forum. In addition to her academic work, Young has performed as an improvisational comedian with ComedySportz Philadelphia and created and hosted the comedy talk show "Dr. Young Unpacks," blending media psychology with performance.