Assistant Professor
American University

I am an assistant professor of political science at the department of Politics, Governance, and Economics at American University's School of International Service. In 2021-22 I was a postdoc fellow at the University of Oxford's Reuters Institute. I received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2021.

My research focuses on political communication in South Asia, with an emphasis on new platforms like WhatsApp and their effects on political misinformation, media trust, and the quality of democracy. I use experimental and survey methods to investigate potential solutions to misinformation in developing countries along with the consequences of misinformation on political and societal outcomes, including violence, vote choice, polarization, and social cohesion.

My work has appeared in academic journals such as the American Political Science Review (x2) and PS: Political Science and Politics as well as popular press such as The Washington Post.

I hold an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Psychology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

You can access my CV here.

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CONTACT

American University
School of International Service
Washington DC 20016

sumitrab[at]american[dot]edu

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

[11] Badrinathan, Sumitra, Simon Chauchard, and Niloufer Siddiqui. 2024. Misinformation and Support for Vigilantism: An Experiment in India and Pakistan. American Political Science Review

[10] Fletcher, Richard, Sumitra Badrinathan, et al. 2024. The link between changing news use and trust: Longitudinal analysis of 46 countries. Forthcoming, Journal of Communication

[9] Badrinathan, Sumitra and Simon Chauchard. 2024. Researching and Countering Misinformation in the Global South. Current Opinion in Psychology.

[8] Badrinathan, Sumitra and Simon Chauchard. 2023. "I Don't Think That's True, Bro!" Social Corrections of Misinformation in India. International Journal of Press/Politics: 1--23.

[7] Mont'Alverne, Camila, Sumitra Badrinathan, Amy Ross Arguedas, Benjamin Toff, Richard Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen. 2023. Domain-Specific Influence on Facebook: How Topic Matters when Assessing Influential Accounts in Four Countries. Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media: 3

[6] Mont'Alverne, Camila, Sumitra Badrinathan, Amy Ross Arguedas, Benjamin Toff, Richard Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen. 2023. Fair and Balanced: What News Audiences in Four Countries Mean When They Say They Prefer Impartial News. Journalism Studies: 1--18.

[5] Ross Arguedas, Amy, Sumitra Badrinathan, Camila Mont’Alverne, Benjamin Toff, Richard Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen. 2023. Shortcuts to Trust: Relying on Cues to Judge Online News from Unfamiliar Sources on Digital Platforms. Journalism: 1--23.

[4] Kim, Eunji, Sumitra Badrinathan, Donghyun Danny Choi, Sabrina Karim, and Yang-Yang Zhou. 2022. Navigating Insider and Outsider Status as Researchers Conducting Field Experiments. PS: Political Science & Politics: 1--5

[3] Ross Arguedas, Amy, Sumitra Badrinathan, Camila Mont’Alverne, Benjamin Toff, Richard Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen. 2022. ”It’s a Battle You Are Never Going to Win”: Perspectives from Journalists in Four Countries on How Digital Media Platforms Undermine Trust in News. Journalism Studies: 1--20.

[2] Badrinathan, Sumitra. 2021. Educative Interventions to Combat Misinformation: Evidence From A Field Experiment in India. American Political Science Review 115(4): 1325--1341

[1] Badrinathan, Sumitra, Devesh Kapur, Deepaboli Chatterjee, and Neelanjan Sircar. 2021. Partisan Disagreement: The Role of Media, Personal Networks and Gender in Forming Political Preferences. Urbanisation 6(1): 141--157.

UNDER REVIEW

The Religious Roots of Belief in Misinformation: Experimental Evidence from India, with Simon Chauchard (R&R, British Journal of Political Science)
Working Paper

WhoWants Impartial News? Investigating the Determinants of Preferences for Impartiality in 40 Countries
with Richard Fletcher et al. (R&R, International Journal of Communication)

The Effect of Labeling False Social Media posts in Brazil, India, and the UK,
with Richard Fletcher Simge Andi, Benjamin Toff, Camila Mont'Alverne, Rasmus K. Nielsen
Pre-analysis plan

Examining Urban/Rural Gaps in Trust in News Across Four Countries
with Camila Mont'Alverne, Amy Ross Arguedas, Benjamin Toff, Richard Fletcher, Rasmus K. Nielsen

WORK IN PROGRESS

Countering Misinformation Early: A Media Literacy Intervention for School Children in India
with Priyadarshi Amar, Simon Chauchard, Florian Sichart
pre-analysis plan

Deconstructing Meta-Narratives of Misinformation to Reduce Support for Violence: A WhatsApp-based Experiment,
with Niloufer Siddiqui and Simon Chauchard

The Political Economy of Local Journalism and Misinformation,
with Adam Auerbach

Sharing Falsehoods in an Information-poor Environment: An Experiment with Indian Teenagers
with Priyadarshi Amar, Simon Chauchard, Florian Sichart
pre-analysis plan

Sharing Falsehoods in an Information-poor Environment: An Experiment with Indian Teenagers
with Priyadarshi Amar, Simon Chauchard, Florian Sichart
pre-analysis plan

Home and Away: Explaining the Political Behavior of the Indian American Diaspora,
with Milan Vaishnav and Devesh Kapur

Norms of Deference and Belief in Misinformation
with Simon Chauchard
pre-analysis plan

The effect of credibility labels on trust in news
with Richard Fletcher, Camila Mont'Alverne, Amy Ross Arguedas, Benjamin Toff, Rasmus K. Nielsen
pre-analysis plan

The effect of corrections featuring fact-checks from news organisations on false COVID-19 social media posts in Brazil, India and the UK
with Richard Fletcher, Simge Andi, Benjamin Toff, Rasmus K. Nielsen
pre-analysis plan

BOOK CHAPTERS

Badrinathan, Sumitra, and Devesh Kapur. 2021. Religion, Caste, Class, Politics: How Urbanization Affects Social Interactions and Political Behaviors. Chapter.
In Colossus: The Anatomy of Delhi, edited by Sanjoy Chakravorty and Neelanjan Sircar. Cambridge University Press

BOOK MANUSCRIPT

Seeds of Discord: How Misinformation Erodes Democratic Norms in South Asia,
with Niloufer Siddiqui and Simon Chauchard. (Manuscript in progress for Cambridge Elements series on Politics of Development)

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (Instructor)

Spring 24: Experimental Design (Undergraduate Seminar)

Fall 24: Comparative Political Economy (Graduate Seminar)

Fall 23: Political Misinformation and Fake News (Graduate Seminar)

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (Teaching Assistant)

Political Change in the Third World (PSCI 116)
Teaching Assistant. Instructor: Professor Rudy Sil

Statistics for Political Science (PSCI 338)
Teaching Assistant. Instructor: Professor Marc Meredith
Lab R code is available in this repository.

International Human Rights (PSCI 258)
Teaching Assistant. Instructor: Professor Eileen Doherty-Sil

Introduction to American Politics (PSCI 130)
Teaching Assistant. Instructor: Professor Marc Meredith

Teaching Awards
Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by Graduate Students, University of Pennsylvania (2019)

Penn Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Graduate Students, University of Pennsylvania (2019)