Can Americans Depolarize? Assessing the Effects of Reciprocal Group Reflection on Partisan Polarization
Zoom: https://bsg.zoom.us/j/91663686066?pwd=QWNHVEY4YzhWMUtvMHZmN0RKQWsyQT09 Meeting ID: 916 6368 6066 Passcode: 322203
Overcoming America’s deep partisan polarization poses a unique challenge: Americans must be able to disagree on policy while nonetheless agreeing on more fundamental democratic principles. We study one model of depolarization—reciprocal group reflection—inspired by marital counseling and implemented by a non-governmental organization, Braver Angels. We randomly assigned undergraduate students at four universities in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, and Midwest either to participate in a Braver Angels workshop or simply to complete three rounds of surveys. The workshops significantly reduced polarization according to explicit and implicit measures. They also increased participants’ willingness to donate to programs aimed at depolarizing political conversations. These effects are consistent across partisan groups, though some dissipate over time. Using qualitative data, and building on contact and deliberative theories, we argue that depolarization is especially effective when it includes both informational and emotional components, such that citizens who are moved to empathize with outgroup members become more likely to internalize new information about them.
Date: 25 January 2022, 12:30 (Tuesday, 2nd week, Hilary 2022)
Venue: Nuffield College, New Road OX1 1NF
Venue Details: Clay Room (online speaker)
Speaker: Amanda Lea Robinson (Ohio State University)
Organising department: Nuffield College
Organisers: Ezequiel González Ocantos (Nuffield College), Pepper Culpepper (Nuffield College), Professor Jane Green (Nuffield College)
Organiser contact email address: maxine.collett@nuffield.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Nuffield College Political Science Seminars
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Maxine Collett