Opinion Science

On a special bonus episode, we welcome back Dr. Vanessa Bohns, professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University. She recently released her second book, "Should I Say Something?: The Science of What to Share--And What to Keep to Yourself."
This episode is from the series of bonus video podcasts I've been doing over at Patreon. But this month, everyone gets the whole episode in the main feed. You can watch the video over at Patreon, though. These have been fun, casual conversations with behavioral scientists and interesting people.
Paid supporters of Opinion Science ($5/mo.) on Patreon get these bonus episodes every month. But you can also join as a free member and still get access to other bonus content + the chance to engage me and other listeners.
Check it out at: https://patreon.com/OpinionScience
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Learn more about Opinion Science and catch up on all the episodes at http://opinionsciencepodcast.com/.

Dr. Joshua Conrad Jackson uses a bunch of creative research tools to tackle big questions about psychology, culture, and history. By examining historical records, modern writing, and global surveys (among other things), he and his colleagues can trace the trajectory of cultures over time. 
In our conversation, he helps me understand what "cultural evolution" means, how cultures have gotten more different (not more similar), and how historical records can shed light on the psychology of prejudice.
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Learn more about Opinion Science and catch up on all the episodes at http://opinionsciencepodcast.com/.

Rhia Catapano studies what happens when people think of an opinion in terms of what they support versus what they oppose. It turns out that this simple difference carries important implications. Even if we're talking about the same basic opinion, something shifts when it's about support than opposition. In our conversation, Rhia shares her findings and what it means for people who want to communicate more effectively.
At the top of the show, I discuss Issue 1 in Ohio from 2023. Most of the background details for that were drawn from this NYT article.
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Learn more about Opinion Science and catch up on all the episodes at http://opinionsciencepodcast.com/.

Demi Oba is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Harvard Business School. He studies the nature of communication. In our conversation, Demi shares some recent research on the different types of "hedges" people make when expressing uncertainty in a claim. These types of uncertainty matter for how persuasive a person can be. In fact, sometimes, being the right kind of uncertain can be more influential than expressing confidence.
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Learn more about Opinion Science and catch up on all the episodes at http://opinionsciencepodcast.com/.

Jae-Hee Jung is an assistant professor at Rice University, where she studies party politics, political behavior, and political psychology in Western democracies. Her research focuses on the strategic use of moral rhetoric (i.e., appeals to fundamental notions of right and wrong) and how it shapes political competition and voter psychology.
We talk about her work analyzing political manifestos, the psychological mechanisms like pride that mobilize a party's base, and the surprising finding that inclusive moral messaging can actually build sympathy across the aisle without causing a partisan backlash. Along the way, we see how framing policies around core principles rather than simple costs and benefits changes the way voters connect with political parties over the long haul.
Dr. Jung's new book is Shared Morals: The Role of Moral Rhetoric in Party Politics.
Join me over at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OpinionScience
Learn more about Opinion Science and catch up on all the episodes at http://opinionsciencepodcast.com/.