Welcome!

You will find some details here about my research. Please get in touch!

About me

I am a doctoral candidate at Central European University in Vienna. I deal with questions in political behavior and psychology using experiments & other tools for causal inference. My dissertation investigates the changes in the temporal salience of partisan group identity and their effect on out-group hostility and affective polarization. My other projects look at the limits of citizen accountability on complex or controversial issues such as drug regulation or political scandals. I am a serious hobby cyclist and I like to read about animal behavior.

Recent publications

Hamrak, B., Simonovits, G., Rusnak, A., & Szucs, F. (2024). Why Politicians Won’t Apologize: Communication Effects in the Aftermath of Sex Scandals. British Journal of Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123424000292
Simonovits, G., Szucs, F., Hamrak, B., (2025). Door to door campaigns in an electoral autocracy: Evidence from Hungary. Journal of Politics. https://doi.org/10.1086/735870
Hamrak, B., Simonovits, G. & Szucs, F. (2024). Equilibrium communication in political scandals. European Journal of Political Economy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102580

Current research

Party identity:

Post-election shifts in affective polarization: The role of out-group threat and in-group status. Revise & resubmit
Can common identities reduce out-party animosity? Quasi-experimental evidence from football games
Antisemitic dog whistle or simple partisan cueing? Assessing the effect of the Soros campaign in Hungary. Revise & resubmit (with Erin Jenne and Levente Littvay)
In-party favoritism or out-party threat? Testing the mechanisms behind citizens’ differential support for democratic norm violation in opposition and government (with Kata Moravecz, Mariyana Angelova, Levente Littvay, Jennifer McCoy, and Gabor Simonovits)

Citizen accountability and representation:

Status quo bias and preferences for drug regulation: Evidence from a novel experimental approach (with Gabor Simonovits)
Descriptive representation and local-level political engagement: Quasi-Experimental evidence from breaking the highest glass ceiling in Slovakia (with Daniel Kovarek)