Research reveals lots of reasons why well-meaning attempts to inform, persuade or correct misinformation go awry. It also identifies ways to avoid these communication backfires.
Donald Trump speaks to the media during a break in his criminal trial in New York on May 30, 2024.
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Donald Nieman, Binghamton University, State University of New York
By focusing on the facts, the public can avoid being distracted by baseless allegations about the Trump verdict that undermine institutions designed to ensure – not weaponize – justice.
What happens when there’s no middle ground?
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Very few Americans believe Congress is doing a good job. Some of them have a simple solution: Throw the bums out and institute term limits. But that creates more problems than it solves.
Could the two political sides find common ground at last?
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Younger generations today agree more on key national issues than older generations do. A time of intense polarization may be ending.
It’s important to understand both the possibilities and limitations of campus dialogue. A person walks past a board with the message ‘Free Palestine’ on the campus of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Feb. 7, 2024, in Indianapolis.
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
In 2015, I saw Jewish and Muslim students forge a set of group agreements so they could dialogue on the Middle East conflict. Initiatives like this or a ‘Semester in Dialogue’ program are promising.
Intellectual humility is about being open to changing your mind.
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Daryl Van Tongeren explains what it means to be intellectually humble, and why it’s so important right now on The Conversation Weekly podcast.
A woman takes a picture of red lanterns and decorations on display in the trees ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Feb. 4, 2024.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Changing the ‘psychological distance’ someone feels toward an issue can shift their attitudes in ways that might help people on opposite sides of an issue see more eye to eye.
Youth flag football players run drills with their coach before a game in Dayton, Ohio, on Oct. 8, 2023.
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With their upcoming decision concerning whether Donald Trump can appear on the Colorado ballot, Supreme Court justices face the possibility that the ruling could be ignored or defied by the public.
How a political opponent acted didn’t change participants’ harsh moral judgments.
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With growing polarization, political attitudes have begun to coincide with moral convictions. Partisans increasingly view each other as immoral. New research reveals the depth of that conviction.
Paying attention to the same thing strengthens bonds between observers.
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Even in a moment of extreme partisanship, ‘we’ still exist if ‘we’ can witness something together. Researchers are exploring how shared attention can build connection.
When Democrats and Republicans fight, do Americans win?
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The deadline to fund the US government is fast approaching, and it will take a Congress seemingly addicted to brinkmanship to keep the government open.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands with New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh as Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre looks on at a Tamil heritage month reception in January 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Long gridlocked by fighting between the two major political parties, the US House is now split by conflict within the GOP, thanks in part to redistricting practices that boost extremism.
President Joe Biden eats an ice cream cone at a Baskin-Robbins in Portland, Ore., in October 2022.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
When politicians talk more about their personal lives and less about politics, it makes people from the opposing side of the political line see them as people and like them more.
Student-Managed Investment Funds provide students with experience managing real investment portfolios. But new research shows only.
a small minority of funds include environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their mandates.
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As we confront pressing social and environmental challenges, business schools must play a big role in building momentum for sustainable investing and ignore partisan, anti-ESG sniping.
Social media pushes evolutionary buttons.
AP Photo/Manish Swarup
Social media companies’ drive to keep you on their platforms clashes with how people evolved to learn from each other. One result is more conflict and misinformation.