Publications
Bai, H., Voelkel, J. G., Muldowney, S., Eichstaedt, J. C., & Willer, R. 2025. LLM-Generated Messages Can Persuade Humans on Policy Issues. Nature Communications.
Hall, M.E. K., Solomon, B. C., Voelkel, J. G., Stagnaro, M. N., Chu, J., & Willer, R. 2025. Durably Reducing Partisan Animosity through Multiple Scalable Treatments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Grayson, S., Feinberg, M., Willer, R., & Zaki, J. 2025. Ironic Effects of Negative Gossip in Driving Inaccurate Social Perceptions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Forbes, R., Willer, R., & Stellar, J. E. 2025. Power as a Moral Magnifier: Moral Outrage is Amplified when the Powerful Transgress. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Chang, H. C. H., Druckman, J. N., Ferrara, E., & Willer, R. 2025. Liberals and Conservatives Share Information Differently on Social Media. PNAS Nexus.
Voelkel, J. G., Stagnaro, M. N., Chu, J. Y., Pink, S. L., Mernyk, J. S., Redekopp, C., Ghezae, I., Cashman, M., Adjodah, D., Allen, L., Allis, V., Baleria, G., Ballantyne, N., Van Bavel, J. J., Blunden, H., Braley, A., Bryan, C., Celniker, J., Cikara, M., Clapper, M. V., Clayton, K., Collins, H., DeFilippis, E., Dieffenbach, M., Doell, K. C., Dorison, C., Duong, M., Felsman, P., Fiorella, M., Francis, D., Franz, M., Gallardo, R., Gifford, S., Goya-Tocchetto, D., Gray, K., Green, J., Greene, J., Güngör, M., Hall, M., Hecht, C., Javeed, A., Jost, J. T., Kay, A., Kay, N. R., Keating, B., Kelly, J. M., Kirk, J., Kopell, M., Kteily, N., Kubin, E., Lees, J., Lenz, G., Levendusky, M., Littman, R., Luo, K., Lyles, A., Lyons, B., Marsh, W., Martherus, J., Maurer, L. A., Mehl, C., Minson, J., Moore, M., Moore-Berg, S. L., Pasek, M. H., Pentland, A., Puryear, C., Rahnama, H., Rathje, S., Rosato, J., Saar-Tsechansky, M., Santos, L. A., Seifert, C., Shariff, A., Simonsson, O., Siddiqi, S. S., Stone, D. F., Strand, P., Tomz, M., Yeager, D., Yoeli, E., Zaki, J., Druckman, J. N., Rand, D. G., & Willer, R. 2024. Megastudy Testing 25 Treatments to Reduce Anti-Democratic Attitudes and Partisan Animosity. Science.
Press Release: Strengthening Democracy, Stanford Press Release, Strengthening Democracy Challenge Website, Washington Post Op-Ed: Democracy over Party, Thread: Strengthening Democracy
Media Coverage: PBS Newshour: Partisan Divide, Washington Post op-ed: Democracy Over Party, New York Times: Reducing Partisan Animosity, New York Times: Partisan Hostility, The Atlantic: Saving Democracy, The Atlantic: Partisan Violence, Washington Post: Healthy Conflict, Nature: Reducing Polarization, LA Times: Cross-Party-Dialogue, Wall Street Journal: Tribalism, Fast Company: Strengthening Democracy, Fast Company: Partisan Animosity, Fox News Interview, Morning Joe Interview, C-SPAN Interview, NPR Here and Now Interview, The Gist Interview, Politicology Interview
Named one of the Top 10 Experiments of 2023 (“Expy”), Analyst Institute
Named one of the Top 10 Insights of 2024, Greater Good Magazine
Kamphorst, J., & Willer, R. 2024. Correcting Misperceptions of the Material Benefits Associated with Union Membership Increases Americans’ Interest in Joining Unions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Chu, J., Voelkel, J. G., Stagnaro, M. N., Kang, S., Druckman, J., Rand, D., & Willer, R. 2024. Academics Are More Specific, and Practitioners More Sensitive, in Forecasting Interventions to Strengthen Democratic Attitudes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Voelkel, J. G., Chu, J. Y., Stagnaro, M. N., Druckman, J., & Willer, R. 2024. How to Design and Conduct a Megastudy. Nature Human Behavior.
Ruggeri, K., Stock, F., Haslam, S.A., Capraro, V., Boggio, P., Ellemers, N., Cichocka, A., Douglas, K. M., Rand, D. G., van der Linden, S., Cikara, M., Finkel, E. J., Druckman, J. N., Wohl, M. J. A., Petty, R. E., Tucker, J. A., Shariff, A., Gelfand, M., Packer, D., Jetten, J., Van Lange, P. A. M., Pennycook, G., Peters, E., Baicker, K., Crum, A., Weeden, K. A., Napper, L. E., Tabri, N., Zaki, J., Skitka, L., Kitayama, S., Mobbs, D., Sunstein, C., Ashcroft-Jones, S., Todsen, A. L., Hajian, A., Verra, S. E., Buehler, V., Friedemann, M., Hecht, M., Mobarak, R. S., Karakasheva, R., Tünte, M., T., Yeung, S. K., Rosenbaum, R. S., Lep, Ž., Yamada, Y., Hudson, S. T. J., Macchia, L., Soboleva, I., Dimant, E., Geiger, S. J., Jarke, H., Wingen, T., Berkessel, J. B., Mareva, S., McGill, L., Papa, F., Većkalov, B., Afif, Z., Buabang, E. K., Landman, M., Tavera, F., Andrews, J. L., Bursalıoğlu, A., Zupan, Z., Wagner, L., Navajas, J., Vranka, M., Kasdan, D. O., Chen, P., Hudson, K. R., Novak, L. M., Teas, P. E., Rachev, N. R., Galizzi, M.M., Milkman, K. L., Petrović, M.B., Van Bavel, J. J., & Willer, R. 2024. A Synthesis of Evidence for Policy from Behavioural Science During COVID-19. Nature, 625, 134–147.
Landry, A., Druckman, J., & Willer, R. 2024. Need for Chaos and Dehumanization Are Robustly Associated with Support for Partisan Violence. Political Behavior.
Santos, L., Voelkel, J. G., Willer, R., & Zaki, J. 2024. Positive Beliefs About Cross-Partisan Empathy Can Strengthen Americans’ Support for Democracy. PNAS Nexus.
Zimmerman, F., Bailey, D., Muric, G., Ferrara, E., Schöne, J., Willer, R., Halperin, E., Navajas, J., Gross, J., & Goldenberg, A. 2024. Attraction to Politically Extreme Users on Social Media. PNAS Nexus.
Ghezae, I., Jordan, J., Gainsburg, I., Mosleh, M., Pennycook, G., Willer, R., & Rand, D. G. 2024. Partisans Neither Expect nor Receive Reputational Rewards for Sharing Falsehoods Over Truth Online. PNAS Nexus.
Hasan-Aslih, S., Idan, O., Willer, R., & Halperin, E. 2023. Disadvantaged Group Members are Prouder of Their Group When Using the Language of the Dominant Group Compared to Their Native Language. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Druckman, J. N., Kang, S., Chu, J. Y., Stagnaro, M. N., Voelkel, J. G., Mernyk, J., Pink, S., Redekopp, C., Rand, D. G., & Willer, R. 2023. Correcting Misperceptions of Out-Partisans Decreases American Legislators’ Support for Undemocratic Practices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Goldenberg, A. & Willer, R. 2023. Amplification of emotion on social media. Nature Human Behaviour.
Gainsburg, I., & Lee Cunningham, J. 2023. Compassion Fatigue as a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Believing Compassion Is Limited Increases Fatigue and Decreases Compassion. Psychological Science, 34(11), 1206-1219.
Stagnaro, M. N., Pink, S., Rand, D., & Willer, R. 2023. Increasing accuracy motivations using moral reframing does not reduce Republicans’ belief in false news. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review.
Voelkel, J. G., Mernyk, J. S., & Willer, R. 2023. Moral Reframing Increases Support for Economically Progressive Candidates. PNAS Nexus.
Clayton, K. & Willer, R. 2023. Endorsements from Republican Politicians Can Increase Confidence in U.S. Elections. Research and Politics.
Pink, S. L., Stagnaro, M. N., Chu, J., Mernyk, J. S., Voelkel, J. G., & Willer, R. 2023. The effects of short messages encouraging prevention behaviors early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Plos one, 18(4), e0284354.
Baumgartner, H. A., Alessandroni, N., Byers-Heinlein, K., Frank, M. C., Hamlin, K., Soderstrom, M., Voelkel, J. G., Willer, R., Yuen, F., Coles, N. A. 2023. How to Build up Big Team Science: A Practical Guide for Large-Scale Collaborations. Royal Society Open Science.
Lang, D., Esbenshade, L., & Willer, R. 2023. Did Ohio's Vaccine Lottery Increase Vaccination Rates? A Pre-Registered, Synthetic Control Study. Journal of Experimental Political Science.
Media Coverage: Science: Vaccination Rates
Mernyk, J. S., Pink, S. L., Druckman, J. N., & Willer, R. 2022. Correcting Inaccurate Metaperceptions Reduces Americans’ Support for Partisan Violence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Corbett, C.*, Voelkel, J. G.*, Cooper, M., Willer, R. 2022. Pragmatic Bias Impedes Women's Access to Political Leadership. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Voelkel, J. G., Chu, J. Y., Stagnaro, M. N., Mernyk, J. S., Redekopp, C., Pink, S., Druckman, J. N., Rand, D. G., Willer, R. 2022. Interventions Reducing Affective Polarization Do Not Necessarily Improve Anti-Democratic Attitudes. Nature Human Behaviour.
Media Coverage: New York Times: Reducing Hate, New York Times: Politics of Delusion
Hartman, R., Blakey, W., Womick, J., Bail, C. A., Finkel, E., Han, H., Sarrouf, J., Schroeder, J., Sheeran, P., Van Bavel, J., Willer, R., Gray, K. 2022. Interventions to Reduce Partisan Animosity. Nature Human Behaviour.
Santos, L. A., Voelkel, J. G., Willer, R., & Zaki, J. 2022. Belief in the Utility of Cross-Partisan Empathy Reduces Partisan Animosity and Facilitates Political Persuasion. Psychological Science.
Frimer, J., Aujla, H., Feinberg, M., Skitka, L., Eichstaedt, J., & Willer, R. 2022. Incivility is Rising Among American Politicians on Twitter. Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Landry, A., Schooler, J., Willer, R., & Seli, P. 2022. Reducing Explicit Blatant Dehumanization by Correcting Exaggerated Meta-Perceptions. Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Simpson, B., Willer, R., & Feinberg, M. 2022. Radical Flanks of Social Movements Can Increase Support for Moderate Factions. PNAS Nexus.
Media Coverage: The Guardian: Protest Tactics
Voelkel, J. G., Malik, M., Redekopp, C., & Willer, R. 2022. Changing Americans’ Attitudes about Immigration: Using Moral Framing to Bolster Factual Arguments. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Chu, J. Y., Pink, S., & Willer, R. 2021. Religious Identity Cues Increase Vaccination Intentions and Trust in Medical Experts among American Christians. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Pink, S., Chu, J. Y., Druckman, J. N., Rand, D. G., & Willer, R. 2021. Elite Party Cues Increase Vaccination Intentions Among Republicans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Stewart, S., & Willer, R. 2021. The Effects of Racial Status Threat on White Americans’ Support for Donald Trump: Results of Five Experimental Tests. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations.
Leong, Y. C., Chen, J., Willer, R., & Zaki, J. 2020. Conservative and Liberal Attitudes Drive Polarized Neural Responses to Political Content. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Van Bavel, J. J., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, V., Cichocka, A., Cikara, M., Crockett, M. J., Crum, A. J., Douglas, K. M., Druckman, J. N., Drury, J., Dube, O., Ellemers, N., Finkel, E. J., Fowler, J. H., Gelfand, M., Han, S., Haslam S. A., Jetten, J., Kitayama, S., Mobbs, D., Napper, L. E., Packer, D. J., Pennycook, G., Peters, E., Petty, R. E., Rand, D. G., Reicher, S. D., Schnall, S., Shariff, A., Skitka, L. J., Smith, S. S., Sunstein, C. R., Tabri, N., Tucker, J. A., van der Linden, S., van Lange, P., Weeden , K. A., Wohl, M. J. A., Zaki, J., Zion, S. R., & Willer, R. 2020. Using Social and Behavioural Science to Support Covid-19 Pandemic Response. Nature Human Behaviour.
Feinberg, M., Willer, R., & Kovacheff, C. 2020. The Activist’s Dilemma: Extreme Protest Actions Reduce Popular Support for Social Movements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Côté, S., Stellar, J. E., Willer, R., Forbes, R. C., Martin, S. R., & Bianchi, E. C. 2020. The Psychology of Entrenched Privilege: High Socioeconomic Status Individuals From Affluent Backgrounds Are Uniquely High in Entitlement. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Feinberg, M., & Willer, R. 2019. Moral Reframing: A Technique for Effective and Persuasive Communication Across Political Divides. Social and Personality Psychology Compass.
Media Coverage: The Atlantic: Values-Based Messaging, The Atlantic: Political Persuasion
Wetts, R., & Willer, R. 2018. Privilege on the Precipice: Perceived Racial Status Threats Lead White Americans to Oppose Welfare Programs. Social Forces.
Press Release: Welfare Opposition, UC Berkeley Press Release: Welfare Backlash, New York Times Op-Ed: Status Threat
Media Coverage: The Atlantic: Racial Resentment, The Atlantic: Status Anxiety, Washington Post: Group Threat Response, Washington Post: Demographic Threat & Redistribution, New York Magazine: Racial Threat & Welfare, Salon: Selective Welfare Support
Stellar, J. E., & Willer, R. 2018. Unethical and inept? The influence of moral information on perceptions of competence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(2), 195.
Voelkel, J. G., & Brandt, M. J. 2019. The effect of ideological identification on the endorsement of moral values depends on the target group. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(6), 851-863.
Voelkel, J. G., Brandt, M. J., & Colombo, M. 2018. I know that I know nothing: Can puncturing the illusion of explanatory depth overcome the relationship between attitudinal dissimilarity and prejudice?. Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology, 3(1), 56-78.
Simpson, B., Willer, R., & Feinberg, M. 2018. Does Violent Protest Backfire? Testing a Theory of Public Reactions to Activist Violence. Socius.
Voelkel, J. G., & Feinberg, M. 2018. Morally reframed arguments can affect support for political candidates. Social Psychological & Personality Science, 9 (8), 917-924.
Boutyline, A., & Willer, R. 2017. The social structure of political echo chambers: Variation in ideological homophily in online networks. Political Psychology, 38(3), 551-569.
Feinberg, M., & Willer, R. 2015. From Gulf to Bridge: When Do Moral Arguments Facilitate Political Influence? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Supplementary Material.
TED Talk: Political Conversations, Press Release: Effective Arguments, New York Times Op-Ed: Political Persuasion
Media Coverage: New York Times: Moral Divides, The Atlantic: Moral Reframing, The Atlantic: Political Persuasion, Vox: Persuasive Conversations, The Gist: Framing & Animal Rights, The Guardian: Power of Framing, New York Magazine: Political Arguments, New York Magazine: Moral Framing, Salon: Moral Reframing & Populism, TED Radio Hour Interview: Shifting Attitudes, You Are not So Smart Podcast Interview: Bridging Divides
Willer, R., Rogalin, C. L., Conlon, B., & Wojnowicz, M. T. 2013. Overdoing Gender: A Test of the Masculine Overcompensation Thesis. American Journal of Sociology.