CoChat
Sign Up
PreprintCited by 174Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial and Intergroup PsychologyPolitical Theory and Democracy

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 78 of the 79 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Megastudy testing 25 treatments to reduce antidemocratic attitudes and partisan animosity

Open access
Voelkel, Jan G., Stagnaro, Michael, Chu, James, Pink, Sophia Lerner, Mernyk, Joseph S., Redekopp, Chrystal, Ghezae, Isaias, Cashman, Matthew, Adjodah, Dhaval, Allen, Levi, Allis, Victor, Baleria, Gina, Ballantyne, Nathan, Van Bavel, Jay Joseph, Blunden, Hayley, Braley, Alia, Bryan, Christopher, Celniker, Jared, Cikara, Mina, Clapper, Margarett, Clayton, Katherine, Collins, Hanne K., D, Evan, DIEFFENBACH, MACRINA, Doell, Kimberly C, Dorison, Charles, Duong, Mylien, Felsman, Peter, Fiorella, Maya, Francis, David, Franz, Michael M., Gallardo, Roman, Gifford, Sara, Goya-Tocchetto, Daniela, Gray, Kurt, Green, Joe, Greene, Joshua D., Güngör, Mertcan, Hall, Matthew, Hecht, Cameron, Javeed, Ali, Jost, John, Kay, Aaron, Kay, Nicholas, Keating, Brandyn, Kelly, John Michael, Kirk, James, Kopell, Malka, Kteily, Nour, Kubin, Emily, Lees, Jeffrey Martin, Lenz, Gabriel, Levendusky, Matt, Littman, Rebecca, Luo, Kara, Lyles, Aaron, Lyons, Benjamin, Marsh, Wayde, Martherus, James, Maurer, Lauren Alpert, Mehl, Caroline, Minson, Julia A., Moore, Molly, Moore-Berg, Samantha, Pasek, Michael H., Pentland, Alex, Puryear, Curtis, Rahnama, Hossein, Rathje, Steve, Rosato, Jay, Saar-Tsechansky, Maytal, Santos, Luiza, Seifert, Colleen, Shariff, Azim, Simonsson, Otto, Spitz Siddiqi, Shiri, Stone, Daniel, Strand, Palma, Tomz, Michael, Yeager, David Scott, Yoeli, Erez, zaki, jamil, Druckman, James, Rand, David Gertler, Willer, Robb·2023·Science
DOI 10.31219/osf.io/y79u5

Preprint — published as 10.1126/science.adh4764 · Paper page

Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Scholars warn that partisan divisions in the mass public threaten the health of American democracy. We conducted a megastudy (n = 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.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.31219/osf.io/y79u5

Cites

78 of 78 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Show all 79 references

Research works printed but not linked: 10

  1. L. Bartels, Ethnic antagonism erodes Republicans' commitment to democracy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 117, 22752-22759 (2020).
  2. J. N. Druckman, S. Kang, J. Chu, M. N. Stagnaro, J. G. Voelkel, J. S. Mernyk, S. L. Pink, C. Redekopp, D. G. Rand, R. Willer, Correcting exaggerated meta-perceptions reduces American legislators' support for undemocratic practices. [Preprint] (2023) https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/our-work/working-papers/2023/wp-23-04.html
  3. D. J. Hopkins, Stable views in a time of tumult: assessing trends in US public opinion, 2007-20. Br. J. Polit. Sci 10.1017/S0007123422000254 (2022). · DOI
  4. A. Wuttke, F. Sichart, F. Foos, Null Effects of Pro-Democracy Speeches by U.S. Republicans in the Aftermath of January 6th. [Preprint] (2022). 10.31235/osf.io/pd5za. · DOI
  5. Graham, M. H., & Svolik, M. W. (2020). Democracy in America? Partisanship, polarization, and the robustness of support for democracy in the United States. American Political Science Review, 114(2), 392-409.
  6. Haerpfer, C., Inglehart, R., Moreno, A., Welzel, C., Kizilova, K., Diez-Medrano J., M. Lagos, P. Norris, E. Ponarin & B. Puranen (eds.). 2022. World Values Survey: Round Seven - Country-Pooled Datafile Version 5.0. Madrid, Spain & Vienna, Austria: JD Systems Institute & WVSA Secretariat. doi:10.14281/18241. · DOI
  7. Marley, P., & Stein, J. (2016, July 30). Judge strikes down Wisconsin voter ID, early voting laws. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved from https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/07/30/judge-strikes-down-wisconsin- voter-id-early-voting-laws/87803408/
  8. Mernyk, J. S., Pink, S. L., Druckman, J. N., & Willer, R. (2022). Correcting inaccurate metaperceptions reduces Americans' support for partisan violence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(16), e2116851119.
  9. Milkman, K. L., Gromet, D., Ho, H., Kay, J. S., Lee, T. W., Pandiloski, P., ... & Duckworth, A. L. (2021). Megastudies improve the impact of applied behavioural science. Nature, 600(7889), 478-483.
  10. Westwood, S. J., Grimmer, J., Tyler, M., & Nall, C. (2022). Current research overstates American support for political violence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(12), e2116870119.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 101–174 of 174

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Voelkel, J. G., Stagnaro, M., Chu, J., Pink, S. L., Mernyk, J. S., Redekopp, C., Ghezae, I., Cashman, M., Adjodah, D., Allen, L., Allis, V., Baleria, G., Ballantyne, N., Van Bavel, J. J., Blunden, H., Braley, A., Bryan, C., Celniker, J., Cikara, M., Clapper, M., Clayton, K., Collins, H. K., D, E., DIEFFENBACH, M., Doell, K. C., Dorison, C., Duong, M., Felsman, P., Fiorella, M., Francis, D., Franz, M. M., Gallardo, R., Gifford, S., Goya-Tocchetto, D., Gray, K., Green, J., Greene, J. D., Güngör, M., Hall, M., Hecht, C., Javeed, A., Jost, J., Kay, A., Kay, N., Keating, B., Kelly, J. M., Kirk, J., Kopell, M., Kteily, N., Kubin, E., Lees, J. M., Lenz, G., Levendusky, M., Littman, R., Luo, K., Lyles, A., Lyons, B., Marsh, W., Martherus, J., Maurer, L. A., Mehl, C., Minson, J. A., Moore, M., Moore-Berg, S., Pasek, M. H., Pentland, A., Puryear, C., Rahnama, H., Rathje, S., Rosato, J., Saar-Tsechansky, M., Santos, L., Seifert, C., Shariff, A., Simonsson, O., Spitz Siddiqi, S., Stone, D., Strand, P., Tomz, M., Yeager, D. S., Yoeli, E., zaki, J., Druckman, J., Rand, D. G., & Willer, R.
Affiliations
  • Cornell University (US)
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
  • Columbia University (US)
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
  • Stanford University (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
  • MIT Media Lab (US)
  • Indiana State University (US)
  • Sonoma State University (US)
  • Arizona State University (US)
  • American University (US)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
  • The University of Texas at Austin (US)
  • UCLA
  • University of Konstanz (DE)
  • Georgetown University (US)
  • Oakland University (US)
  • Bowdoin College (US)
  • University of Chicago (US)
  • Duke University
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
  • University of Notre Dame (US)
  • University of Rochester (US)
  • New York University (US)
  • Duke University (US)
  • Northwestern University (US)
  • University of Groningen (NL)
  • University of Illinois Chicago (US)
  • University of Utah (US)
  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
  • Toronto Metropolitan University (CA)
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • Karolinska Institutet (SE)
  • Marquette University (US)
  • Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (US)
Corresponding author
  • Voelkel, Jan G.
  • Stagnaro, Michael
  • Chu, James
  • Willer, Robb
ORCID
Venue
Science
Publisher
Center for Open Science
Published
2023-03-20
Volume
386
Issue
6719
Pages
eadh4764-eadh4764
ISSN
0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.31219/osf.io/y79u5
OpenAlex
W4403510391
Cited by
174
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 78 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 14
FWCI
254.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Warwick Research Archive Portal (University of Warwick) (acceptedVersion)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Fetzer Institute
  • Ford Motor Company
  • Northwestern University
  • U.S. Navy
  • Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society
  • Office of Naval Research
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
Keywords
partisan animosity, partisan divisions, democratic attitudes, political polarization, common identity, collapse of democracy
MeSH terms
Attitude, Democracy, Female, Humans, Male, Politics, Public Opinion, United States

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review