Gracielle Li

Gracielle Li is a Social Impact Fellow with the Teaching, Learning & Tech program at New America. She is a fellow through Princeton’s GradFutures program and is currently a doctoral candidate in Princeton University’s Psychology Department, where she works with the Cognition in Collectives Lab.

Li received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Legal Studies, and Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2023. There, she was a research assistant at the Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research and at the Risk Resilience Research Lab.

Li studies how parasocial relationships with social media influencers, celebrities, and public figures shape beliefs and behavior. Using experimental interventions and network‐analysis methods, she investigates how exposure to influencer content can influence consumer choices, health practices, and even political attitudes. She also examines how digital‐literacy interventions can curb the spread of misinformation and foster critical engagement online. Her goal is to develop evidence‐based strategies that promote healthier, more informed digital communities.

At New America, Li aims to apply insights from psychological research to promote critical engagement with online content and inform efforts towards digital literacy.

When not engrossed in her research, she spends her time hiking in nature, exploring new cities around the world, and learning Spanish on Duolingo.