Staff profile

Dr. Ditonto is an associate professor in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University. Her research interests include gender and politics, political psychology, American politics, and voting behaviour. Specifically, her work focuses on perceptions of female political candidates, the role of stereotypes and prejudice in voter decision-making, and the effects of information and cognition on political behaviour.

She received her BA from the University of Michigan (2004) and her PhD from Rutgers University - New Brunswick (2013). She previously worked as an assistant professor at Iowa State University before joining SGIA in 2019. 

• American Politics
• Gender and politics
• Political behaviour
• Political psychology
• Quantitative Methods
• Women and politics

Chapter in book

• Voting and Gender
  
  Ditonto, T. (in press). Voting and Gender. In K. Nadal (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender. SAGE Publications.
• Beyond the Presidency, 2016: Women Candidates in Down-Ballot Races
  
  Ditonto, T., & Andersen, D. (2020). Beyond the Presidency, 2016: Women Candidates in Down-Ballot Races. In N. Bauer (Ed.), Politicking While Female: The Political Lives of Women. (pp. 115-136). LSU Press.
• (Working Toward) Affective Transfer in the Real World
  
  Ditonto, T., & Lau, R. R. (2018). (Working Toward) Affective Transfer in the Real World. In H. Lavine & C. Taber (Eds.), The Feeling, Thinking Citizen: Essays in Honor of Milton Lodge. Routledge.
• The 'Outsider' and the Presidency: Mediated Representations of Race and Gender in the 2008 Presidential Primaries
  
  Ditonto, T. (2014). The ’Outsider’ and the Presidency: Mediated Representations of Race and Gender in the 2008 Presidential Primaries. In G. R. Daniel & H. Williams (Eds.), Race and the Obama Phenomenon: The Vision of a More Perfect Multiracial Union. University of Mississippi Press.

Journal Article

• The Gendered Risks of Violating Expectations and the Importance of Information for Women Candidates
  
  Ditonto, T., Andersen, D. J., & Peterson, D. A. (2025). The Gendered Risks of Violating Expectations and the Importance of Information for Women Candidates. Politics & Gender. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1743923x25100159
• The Importance of Candidate Sex and Partisan Preference Over Time: A Multi-day Study of Voter Decision-Making
  
  Andersen, D. J., & DiTonto, T. (2020). The Importance of Candidate Sex and Partisan Preference Over Time: A Multi-day Study of Voter Decision-Making. Journal of Politics, 82(4), 1337-1353. https://doi.org/10.1086/708340
• The Mediating Role of Information Search in the Relationship Between Prejudice and Voting Behavior
  
  Ditonto, T. (2020). The Mediating Role of Information Search in the Relationship Between Prejudice and Voting Behavior. Political Psychology, 41(1), 71-88. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12599
• Direct and indirect effects of prejudice: sexism, information, and voting behavior in political campaigns
  
  Ditonto, T. (2019). Direct and indirect effects of prejudice: sexism, information, and voting behavior in political campaigns. Politics, Groups and Identities, 7(3), 590-609. https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2019.1632065
• Mitigating gender bias in student evaluations of teaching
  
  Peterson, D. A., Biederman, L. A., Andersen, D., Ditonto, T. M., & Roe, K. (2019). Mitigating gender bias in student evaluations of teaching. PLoS ONE, 14(5), Article e0216241. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216241
• A face fit for office? Appearance-based competence inferences in high-information environments
  
  Ditonto, T. (2018). A face fit for office? Appearance-based competence inferences in high-information environments. Electoral Studies, 54, 248-253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2018.04.007
• Information and its Presentation: Treatment Effects in Low-Information vs. High-Information Experiments
  
  Andersen, D. J., & Ditonto, T. (2018). Information and its Presentation: Treatment Effects in Low-Information vs. High-Information Experiments. Political Analysis, 26(4), 379-398. https://doi.org/10.1017/pan.2018.21
• Differences in Appearance-Based Trait Inferences for Male and Female Political Candidates
  
  Ditonto, T., & Mattes, K. (2018). Differences in Appearance-Based Trait Inferences for Male and Female Political Candidates. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 39(4), 430-450. https://doi.org/10.1080/1554477x.2018.1506206
• Measuring Voter Decision Strategies in Political Behavior and Public Opinion Research
  
  Lau, R. R., Kleinberg, M. S., & Ditonto, T. M. (2018). Measuring Voter Decision Strategies in Political Behavior and Public Opinion Research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 82(S1), 911-936. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfy004
• Two’s a Crowd: Women Candidates in Concurrent Elections
  
  Ditonto, T., & Andersen, D. J. (2018). Two’s a Crowd: Women Candidates in Concurrent Elections. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 39(3), 257-284. https://doi.org/10.1080/1554477x.2018.1475790
• A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns
  
  Ditonto, T. (2017). A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns. Political Behavior, 39(2), 301-325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-016-9357-5
• Effect of Media Environment Diversity and Advertising Tone on Information Search, Selective Exposure, and Affective Polarization
  
  Lau, R. R., Andersen, D. J., Ditonto, T. M., Kleinberg, M. S., & Redlawsk, D. P. (2017). Effect of Media Environment Diversity and Advertising Tone on Information Search, Selective Exposure, and Affective Polarization. Political Behavior, 39(1), 231-255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-016-9354-8
• Gender Stereotypes, Information Search, and Voting Behavior in Political Campaigns
  
  Ditonto, T. M., Hamilton, A. J., & Redlawsk, D. P. (2014). Gender Stereotypes, Information Search, and Voting Behavior in Political Campaigns. Political Behavior, 36(2), 335-358. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-013-9232-6
• AMPing Racial Attitudes: Comparing the Power of Explicit and Implicit Racism Measures in 2008
  
  Ditonto, T. M., Lau, R. R., & Sears, D. O. (2013). AMPing Racial Attitudes: Comparing the Power of Explicit and Implicit Racism Measures in 2008. Political Psychology, 34(4), 487-510. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12013