Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Jae-Hee Jung is an assistant professor at Rice University, where she studies party politics, political behavior, and political psychology in Western democracies. Her research focuses on the strategic use of moral rhetoric (i.e., appeals to fundamental notions of right and wrong) and how it shapes political competition and voter psychology.
We talk about her work analyzing political manifestos, the psychological mechanisms like pride that mobilize a party’s base, and the surprising finding that inclusive moral messaging can actually build sympathy across the aisle without causing a partisan backlash. Along the way, we see how framing policies around core principles rather than simple costs and benefits changes the way voters connect with political parties over the long haul.
Dr. Jung’s new book is Shared Morals: The Role of Moral Rhetoric in Party Politics.
For more, head to this episode's webpage: opinionsciencepodcast.com/episode/making-moral-arguments-with-jae-hee-jung
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Join the community and support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/OpinionScience
Opinion Science is a psychology podcast exploring the science of our opinions, where they come from, and how we talk about them. In each episode, I talk to social scientists and professional communicators about how their work reveals key insights into public opinion, communication, and persuasion.
Follow this psychology podcast...
Website: opinionsciencepodcast.com
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/opinion-science/id1506227206
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0qbbKQR3GpvtzvGvuYz5Fp
Jae-Hee Jung is an assistant professor at Rice University, where she studies party politics, political behavior, and political psychology in Western democracies. Her research focuses on the strategic use of moral rhetoric (i.e., appeals to fundamental notions of right and wrong) and how it shapes political competition and voter psychology.
We talk about her work analyzing political manifestos, the psychological mechanisms like pride that mobilize a party’s base, and the surprising finding that inclusive moral messaging can actually build sympathy across the aisle without causing a partisan backlash. Along the way, we see how framing policies around core principles rather than simple costs and benefits changes the way voters connect with political parties over the long haul.
Dr. Jung’s new book is Shared Morals: The Role of Moral Rhetoric in Party Politics.
For more, head to this episode's webpage: opinionsciencepodcast.com/episode/making-moral-arguments-with-jae-hee-jung
==================
Join the community and support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/OpinionScience
Opinion Science is a psychology podcast exploring the science of our opinions, where they come from, and how we talk about them. In each episode, I talk to social scientists and professional communicators about how their work reveals key insights into public opinion, communication, and persuasion.
Follow this psychology podcast...
Website: opinionsciencepodcast.com
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/opinion-science/id1506227206
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0qbbKQR3GpvtzvGvuYz5Fp









