Listen for a Change? A Longitudinal Field Experiment on Listening's Potential to Facilitate Persuasion

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

A new study on Canvassing to Curtail Prejudice examines the potential for listening to facilitate persuasion by promoting cognitive processing, reducing defensiveness, and improving perceptions of the persuader. This longitudinal study, co-authored by Yale political scientist and PRISE faculty affiliate Joshua Kalla, found that sharing a persuasive narrative on unauthorized immigration meaningfully and durably reduced prejudice and changed policy attitudes. Similarly, engaging in high-quality listening also improved perceptions of the persuader and increased processing.

Click here to read the working paper.