# Interventions to reduce partisan animosity - Author(s): Rachel Hartman, Will Blakey, Jake Womick, Chris Bail, Eli J. Finkel, Hahrie Han, John Sarrouf, Juliana Schroeder, Paschal Sheeran, Jay J. Van Bavel, Robb Willer and Kurt Gray - Date: 2022 - Publication: Nature Human Behavior - [Link](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01442-3) --- ## Summary This is a review paper of interventions that aim to reduce partisan animosity; defined as, "We define partisan animosity as negative thoughts, feelings or behaviours towards a political out group." They point out that this is different from affective polarization because it does not consider the opinion of one's own group (affective polarization is typically defined as the difference in the opinion of the out-group vs. your own in-group). Thus, it serves as a sort of "larger umbrella". They present the TRI framework, consisting of... - **T**houghts - **R**elationships - **I**nstitutions ... the three areas in which interventions can be implemented. #### Thoughts Underlying a lot of partisan animosity is a great deal of misperceptions about the other group. People think the other group hates them more than they do, have more extreme positions than they do, etc. — so interventions that reduce these misperceptions can help reduce partisan animosity. #### Relationships A lot of work has also shown that creating cross-partisan social connections, spending actual time with the out-group, and have conversations with out-group members can be very beneficial for reducing partisan animosity. #### Institutions The authors highlight that altering the incentive structures for the institutions (political, media, etc.) can help to alter the social norms of society and foster less polarizing norms. They point out that there is not much work in this area but there is room for great research and impact in this area. #### Durability and Scalability The authors also highlight the importance to implement interventions that are durable (have lasting impacts) and scalable (easy to implement to many people). They stress a common trade off between these two qualities. For example, Twitter's "Do you want to read this article before sharing?" intervention is lightweight and scalable, however, it's not too likely to have a huge impact. On the other hand, interventions like organizing regular cross-partisan, in-person, discussion sessions (which are shown to have larger effects) are very difficult to scale. #### Cool groups mentioned in this article: - https://www.theflipside.io/ (present info from both sides on different issues and "let you decide") - https://ground.news/ (good news org.) - https://newpluralists.org/ (offer grants) #### Thoughts I wonder if we can gamify some sort of cross-partisan interaction. I can imagine that a platform like Twitter can create this sort of "side-game" to foster "bursting the bubble" and then they could use this as additional advertising space. "Bursting the Bubble brought to you by Geico" or w/e... Points would be earned for good behavior and top-scoring user each month or each quarter would win money. --- #### Related #polarization #interventions