Couples Therapy for a Divided America: Evaluating the effects of a Depolarization Workshop

Researchers: Hannah Baron, Robert Blair, Donghyun Danny Choi, Laura Gamboa, Jessica Gottlieb, Amanda Lea Robinson, Steven Rosenzweig, Megan Turnbull, Emily West

Geographical region: North America

Project country: United States

Case study question: Can a model of depolarizing partisans – reciprocal group reflection – reduce polarization?

Edited by: Ayuko Picot

In this policy brief, the researchers study one model of depolarizing partisans—reciprocal group reflection—inspired by marital counseling and implemented by a non-governmental organization, Braver Angels. A randomized control trial of workshops across four American universities shows that this model can significantly reduce polarization according to explicit and implicit measures and increase participants’ support for depolarization.