Andrew Franks, PhD
Faculty
Office phone: 248.476.1122, ext. 103
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Andrew Franks was born in Saginaw, Michigan and earned each of his academic degrees at Central Michigan University. He joined MSP in 2024 as the first ever non-clinician in a faculty position. Prior to that, he held faculty positions at University of Michigan, University of Washington, and Princeton University.听
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Dr. Franks’ research program applies social psychological principles to contexts such as politics & public policy, criminal justice, public health, and economics. As of September 2024, he has authored 23 peer-reviewed publications, the majority of which are as primary or sole author.
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Outside of academia, Dr. Franks has worked in the field of AI development and was a member of the Education Committee and the Advisory Committee for Voters Not Politicians during the effort to pass Michigan Proposition 2 (2018), which听ended partisan gerrymandering in our state. He is also the former chair of the Secular Coalition for Michigan.
Education
- Ph.D. in Applied Experimental Psychology – Central Michigan University
- M.S. in Experimental Psychology – Central Michigan University
- B.S. in Psychology – Central Michigan University
Areas of Expertise
- Statistics听
- Research Methods
- Social Psychology & Social Cognition
- Evolutionary Psychology
Selected Publications
Franks, A.S., Roupe, G., & Otani, H. (2023). (A)symmetries in the directed forgetting of political stimuli.听Experimental Psychology.听
Franks, A.S., Xiao, Y.J., & Hesami, F. (2022). Racial framing of pandemic outcomes has conditional indirect effects on support for COVID鈥�19 mitigation policies: Examining moral and threat鈥恇ased mediating mechanisms.听Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.
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Franks, A.S. (2020). The conditional effects of candidate sex and sexism on perceived electability and voting intentions: Evidence from the 2020 Democratic primary.听Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.
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Franks, A.S. & Scherr, K.C. (2019). Economic issues are moral issues: The moral underpinnings of the desire to reduce economic inequality.听Social Psychological and
Personality Science.
Personality Science.
Q&A
- Describe your research interests.
My research applies social psychological theory to politics & public policy, criminal justice, public health, and economics. Much of my research focuses on social justice related outcomes.
- Describe your clinical philosophy.听
As a social psychological researcher and non-clinician, I seek to promote psychological science as a tool for understanding the social conditions and phenomena that affect mental health outcomes and for engaging in evidence-based efforts to improve such outcomes at the individual, community, and society levels.
