Persuasion-Oriented Listening: How Listening Can Reduce Exclusionary Attitudes

Persuasion is notoriously difficult. Decades of research has shown that exclusionary attitudes—prejudice against out groups and opposition to policies that would promote their wellbeing—are difficult to change. Many scholars have argued that building rapport can overcome resistance to changing beliefs. However, recent experimental evidence has cast doubt on that claim. Political scientists Joshua Kalla and David Broockman and social psychologist Roni Porat will examine the impact on what they the refer to as “persuasion-oriented listening”—listening to the target’s concerns and using them to alter the persuasive appeal—on attitudes towards undocumented immigrants. They will conduct survey and field experiments for their study.