Matthew Wright earned his BA in political science and history from McGill University, and his PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining UBC’s Department of Political Science, he was an Associate Professor of Government at American University in Washington, DC.

He studies political psychology, typically through an empirical and comparative lens. He wants to understand where peoples’ political identities and core values come from, and how they go on to influence attitudes about immigrants, immigration policy, and diversity.

His work on these topics and others has appeared in Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Political Research Quarterly, Election Law Journal, the Journal of European Public Policy, Psychological Science, Political Studies, International Migration Review, Political Psychology, and Perspectives on Politics among others.

His book (co-authored with Morris Levy), Immigration and the American Ethos, is forthcoming at Cambridge University Press. In 2012, his article, “Is There a Tradeoff Between Multiculturalism and Immigration?” Perspectives on Politics, (10:1), 77-95, was awarded Best Article by the APSA Migration and Citizenship Section.

Wright joined the American University’s Department of Government in July, 2011, after spending one year as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Select Publications:

2019. Wright, M. “Identity and Immigration: What We Think We Know, and Why We Might Not Actually Know It,” Nations and Nationalism (25:2), 467-477.

2019. Ziller, C., Wright, M., & Hewstone, M. “Immigration, Social Trust, and the Moderating Role of Value Contexts,” Social Science Research (79), 115-126.

2018. Steenvoorden, E., & Wright, M. “Political Shades of ‘We’: Sociotropic Uncertainty and Multiple Political Identification in Europe,” European Societies (21:1), 4-32.

2017. Soroka, S., Wright, M., Johnston, R., Citrin, J., Banting, K., & Kymlicka, W. “Ethnoreligious Identity, Immigration, and Redistribution,” Journal of Experimental Political Science (4:3), 173-182.

2016. Levy, M., Wright, M., Citrin, J. “Mass Opinion and Immigration Policy in the United States: Re-Assessing Clientelist and Elitist Perspectives,” Perspectives on Politics (14:3), 660-680.

2016. Helbling, M., Wright, M., & Reeskens, T. “The mobilisation of identities: a study on the relationship between elite rhetoric and public opinion on national identity in developed democracies,” Nations and Nationalism (22:4), 744-767.

2016. Wright, M., Johnston, R., Citrin, J., & Soroka, S. “Multiculturalism and Muslim Accommodation: Policies and Predisposition in Three Political Contexts,” Comparative Political Studies (50:1), 102-132.

2015. Wright, M., Levy, M., & Citrin, J. “Public Attitudes Toward Immigration Policy Across the Legal/Illegal Divide: The Role of Categorical and Attribute-Based Decision-Making,” Political Behavior (38:1), 229-253.

2015. Goodman, S.W., & Wright, M. “Does Mandatory Integration Matter? Effects of Civic Requirements on Immigrant Socioeconomic and Political Outcomes,” Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies (41:12), 1885-1908.

2015. Wright, M. “Economic Inequality and the Social Capital Gap in the United States Across Time and Space,” Political Studies(63:3), 642-662.

2014. Bloemraad, I., & Wright, M. “‘Utter Failure’ or ‘Unity out of Diversity’? Debating and Evaluating Policies of Multiculturalism,” International Migration Review 50th Anniversary Special Issue (48: S1), S292-S334.

2014. Lublin, D., & Wright, M. “Don’t Start the Party: Assessing the Electoral Effect of Legal Provisions Impeding Ethnoregional Parties,” Election Law Journal (13:2), 277-287.

2014. Citrin, J., Levy, M., & Wright, M. “Multicultural Policy and Political Support in European Democracies” Comparative Political Studies (47:11), 1531-1557.

2013. Reeskens, T., & Wright, M. “Host Country Patriotism Among European Immigrants: A Comparative Study of its Individual and Societal Roots,” Ethnic and Racial Studies (37:14), 2493-2511.

2013. Lublin, D., & Wright, M. “Engineering Inclusion: Assessing the Effects of Pro-Minority Representation Policies,” Electoral Studies (32:4), 746-755.

2013. Wright, M., & Reeskens, T. “Of What Cloth are the Ties That Bind? A Multi-level Analysis of the Relationship Between Normative Conceptions of Nationalism and Support for the Welfare State,”Journal of European Public Policy (20:10), 1443-1463.

2013. Reeskens, T., & Wright, M. “Nationalism and the Cohesive Society: The Interplay Between Diversity, National Identity, and Social Capital Across 27 European Societies,” Comparative Political Studies (46:2), 153-181.

2012. Citrin, J., Johnston, R., & Wright, M. “Do Patriotism and Multiculturalism Collide? Competing Perspectives from the U.S. and Canada,” Canadian Journal of Political Science (45:3), 531-552.

2012 Wright, M., Citrin, J., & Wand, J. “Alternative Measures of American National Identity: Implications for the Civic-Ethnic Distinction,” Political Psychology (33:4), 469-482.

2012. Wright, M., & Bloemraad, I. “Is There a Tradeoff Between Multiculturalism and Immigration? Policy Regimes and Immigrant Incorporation in Comparative Perspective,” Perspectives on Politics (10:1), 77-95.

2012. Hanley, J., Salamone, M., & Wright, M. “Reviving the Schoolmaster: Re-Evaluating Public Opinion in the Wake of Roe v. Wade,” Political Research Quarterly (62:2), 408-421.