Fresh approaches needed to tackle political age of rage', US study suggests

"Efforts to reduce the hostility people feel towards rival political parties can result in small changes but such effects largely evaporate within two weeks, researchers have found. The team behind the work, which explored the impact of interventions ranging from correcting common misperceptions of the other side to enabling contact between political opponents, say their results suggest fresh approaches are needed to tackle what some have labelled the age of rage."

"On average across all interventions and participants, the researchers found such approaches increased the warmth felt towards the opposing political party by 5.4 points on a 101-point scale. But, they say, this is only a modest shift, noting it is smaller than the fluctuations seen among the general public over relatively short time-spans, and would not be expected to influence attitudes and behaviours such as belief in misinformation or support for democratic norms."

"There is no magical fix for our political divides, said Prof Sean Westwood, the co-author of the research from Dartmouth College in the US. To rebuild our democracy, we must commit to the long-term process of supporting policy focused candidates, resisting the hatred that flourishes on social media, and restoring the integrity of our federal government, he added. This sounds challenging, and it is, but we have done it before."

Analyses of 25 US-focused studies examined 77 approaches to reducing partisan animosity, including correcting misperceptions and enabling contact between opposing partisans. On average, interventions increased warmth toward the opposing party by 5.4 points on a 101-point scale. That magnitude represents a modest shift smaller than routine short-term public fluctuations and is unlikely to change misinformation beliefs or support for democratic norms. Follow-up data across 20 interventions showed about 75% of initial reductions in animosity dissipated after one week and nearly all dissipated within two weeks. Simultaneous exposure to multiple interventions did not produce lasting reductions. Rebuilding democratic norms requires sustained commitments such as supporting policy-focused candidates, resisting social-media-fueled hatred, and restoring federal government integrity.

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