How to overcome prejudice
A brief conversation can have a lasting effect on prejudice [Also see Report by Broockman and Kalla] What do social scientists know about reducing prejudice in the world? In short, very little. Of the hundreds of studies on prejudice reduction conducted in recent decades, only ~11% test the causal effect of interventions conducted in the real world (1) Far fewer address prejudice among adults or measure the long term effects of those interventions (see the figure) The results reported by Broockman and Kalla on page 220 of this issue are therefore particularly important (2) The authors show that a 10 min conversation with voters in South Florida reduced prejudice against transgender people and increased support for transgender rights for at least 3 months.
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