The Difficult Conversations Lab
- Lead PI: Professor Peter Coleman
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Unit Affiliation: Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4)
- Unknown start date - Ongoing
- Active
- Global
- Project Type: Research Outreach
DESCRIPTION:
The Difficult Conversations Lab is one of Coleman’s current initiatives to study polarizing moral conflicts, and to see whether and how dialogue can succeed as a tool for reducing tension between opponents on highly politicized issues such as abortion and gun control. His team assesses participants’ opinions on divisive issues, pairs them with rivals, and then invites them to speak together on the issue in the lab. The lab technology allows Coleman’s team to track the discussants’ emotional, cognitive, behavioral and physiological experiences over the course of the conversation, which has revealed new insights into when these interactions go well or go poorly.
BLOG: Navigating Political Polarization in Times of Crisis: Lessons from the Difficult Conversations Lab