Megastudy testing 25 treatments to reduce antidemocratic attitudes and partisan animosity

Scholars warn that partisan divisions in the mass public threaten the health of American democracy. We conducted a megastudy (<i>n</i> = 32,059 participants) testing 25 treatments designed by academics and practitioners to reduce Americans' partisan animosity and antidemocratic attitudes. We find that many treatments reduced partisan animosity, most strongly by highlighting relatable sympathetic individuals with different political beliefs or by emphasizing common identities shared by rival partisans. We also identify several treatments that reduced support for undemocratic practices-most strongly by correcting misperceptions of rival partisans' views or highlighting the threat of democratic collapse-which shows that antidemocratic attitudes are not intractable. Taken together, the study's findings identify promising general strategies for reducing partisan division and improving democratic attitudes, shedding theoretical light on challenges facing American democracy.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2024-10-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh4764
Citations
90
Primary Topic
Electoral Systems and Political Participation
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
200.81

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article

Megastudy testing 25 treatments to reduce antidemocratic attitudes and partisan animosity

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90 citations
Science
Electoral Systems and Political Participation
200.81
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Megastudy testing 25 treatments to reduce antidemocratic attitudes and partisan animosity

Jared Celniker, Matthew Levendusky, Michael M. Franz, Peter Felsman, Margarett Clapper, James R. G. Kirk, Rebecca Littman, Alex Pentland, Luiza A Santos, Jan G. Voelkel, David S. Yeager, Levi G. Allen, John Kelly, Robb Willer, Samantha L. Moore‐Berg, Mina Cikara, James Martherus, James Chu, Wayde Z.C. Marsh, Dhaval Adjodah, Kurt Gray, Molly Moore, Nathan Ballantyne, Kimberly C Doell, Sophia L. Pink, Lauren Alpert Maurer, Erez Yoeli, Christopher J. Bryan, Michael H. Pasek, Sara Gifford, Hanne K. Collins, Azim Shariff, Shiri Spitz Siddiqi, Michael N. Stagnaro, Cameron A. Hecht, Colleen M. Seifert, Jamil Zaki, Julia A. Minson, Emily Kubin, Kara Luo, Joseph S. Mernyk, Roman A. Gallardo, Charles Dorison, Jay Joseph Van Bavel, Macrina C Dieffenbach, Hayley Blunden, Michael Tomz, David G. Rand, Gina Baleria, Daniela Goya‐Tocchetto, Chrystal Redekopp, Jay Rosato, Steve Rathje, Jeffrey Martin Lees, Joshua D. Greene, N. Kay, James Druckman, Maya Fiorella, Maytal Saar‐Tsechansky, Ali Javeed, Matthew Cashman, Malka Kopell, Brandyn Keating, Otto Simonsson, Alia Braley, Daniel Stone, Evan DeFilippis, John T. Jost, Mylien T. Duong, Palma Strand, Isaias Ghezae, Benjamin Lyons, Aaron C. Kay, Nour Kteily, Joe Green, Matthew E. K. Hall, Aaron Lyles, Hossein Rahnama, Curtis Puryear, Katherine Clayton, Mertcan Güngör, Gabriel Lenz, Caroline Mehl, D. Francis, L. Victor Allis
article en
90 citations

Abstract

Scholars warn that partisan divisions in the mass public threaten the health of American democracy. We conducted a megastudy (<i>n</i> = 32,059 participants) testing 25 treatments designed by academics and practitioners to reduce Americans' partisan animosity and antidemocratic attitudes. We find that many treatments reduced partisan animosity, most strongly by highlighting relatable sympathetic individuals with different political beliefs or by emphasizing common identities shared by rival partisans. We also identify several treatments that reduced support for undemocratic practices-most strongly by correcting misperceptions of rival partisans' views or highlighting the threat of democratic collapse-which shows that antidemocratic attitudes are not intractable. Taken together, the study's findings identify promising general strategies for reducing partisan division and improving democratic attitudes, shedding theoretical light on challenges facing American democracy.

ScienceVol. 386(6719)
Brigham Young University (US), Marquette University (US), University of Notre Dame (US), Northwestern University (US), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US), Creighton University (US), Naval Sea Systems Command (US), Bowdoin College (US), Harvard University (US), University of British Columbia (CA), Sonoma State University (US), University of Groningen (NL), Duke University (US), Oakland University (US), John F. Kennedy University (US), American University (US), Georgetown University (US), University of Toronto (CA), University of Konstanz (DE), University of California, Irvine (US), Washington University in St. Louis (US), Cornell University (US), University of Utah (US), Cardiovascular Institute of the South (US), University of Michigan (US), University of Koblenz and Landau (DE), Karolinska Institutet (SE), University of Illinois Chicago (US), University of Chicago (US), Beyond Conflict (US), BioQ Pharma (United States) (US), The Dialogue (US), University of Rochester (US), Arizona State University (US), Atotech (United States) (US), New York University (US), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US), Columbia University (US), University of Pennsylvania (US), Indiana State University (US), The University of Texas at Austin (US), Morningside College (US), Norwegian School of Economics (NO), University of California, Berkeley (US), Stanford University (US)
Fetzer Institute, Ford Motor Company, Northwestern University, U.S. Navy, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, Office of Naval Research
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Electoral Systems and Political Participation
200.81
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