Following the release of the America’s Divided Mind report, Beyond Conflict expanded its focus on identity-based polarization to explore the range of psychological drivers of social division that threaten American democracy. Our 2022 report, Renewing American Democracy, distills the latest social science research on social identity and division into a practically focused frame. Much of our work is designed to apply social science to practical approaches toward transformational change and democratic renewal in the US and globally. Our current research and initiatives explore how to meaningfully reduce levels of identity threat in a way that increases the effectiveness of cross-group dialogue and negotiations and unpack how social identity conflicts impact an individual’s willingness to adhere to democratic norms.
Helping to pave the way for democratic renewal in the United States and abroad
Strengthening American Democracy
The Challenge
Deepening political polarization in the United States is a profound threat to the American people and to the very core of American democracy. As polarization worsens, it will continue to undermine the social fabric of the nation, drive Americans further apart, and make it more difficult to find collaborative ways to address urgent challenges.
To address this crisis, there is a pressing need to better understand the roles that psychological forces and identity-based polarization play to shape our fears, anxieties, and increasing distrust of each other.
With these insights, built on rigorous research and analysis, we hope to better understand the causes of social division and develop new approaches to strengthen social cohesion and American democracy.
Our Approach
To address these challenges, Beyond Conflict combines more than 30 years of conflict resolution experience with brain and behavioral science to understand the causes of social division and deepening polarization in the United States.
We conduct research, design and test new interventions with leading scientists and practitioners, and produce cutting edge publications that help shape new directions in the field of democratic renewal and social cohesion.
America's Divided Mind
Meta-Perception Correction Intervention Video
Democrats and Republicans significantly overestimate the difference between them on key issues, as well as how much the other side dislikes or dehumanizes them. Following the release of the America’s Divided Mind report in 2020, Beyond Conflict and its research partners developed a video designed to correct these misperceptions. This video, which features everyday Americans from across the country, was named one of the most effective tools to reduce support for political violence, anti-democratic attitudes, and animosity across partisan lines in Stanford University’s Strengthening Democracy Challenge.
Current Projects
In partnership with the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, among others, Beyond Conflict is spearheading a multi-year U.S. initiative focused on historical memory and repair. This interdisciplinary effort aims to identify the principles, processes, and best practices for dealing with public memorials and symbols of contested histories, ultimately producing a context-specific, evidence-based, and trauma-informed process for use by community leaders, institutions, historical commissions, and elected officials. The initiative will lead to the first-ever national conferences on contested histories in the U.S., in addition to producing an interactive digital resource hub, and provide strategic support for communities seeking additional guidance on conflict resolution at the nexus of contentious public memorials.
Translating insights from clinical psychology, social psychology, and peacebuilding, this initiative explores how trauma—acute, chronic, and intergenerational—impacts the strategic and tactical choices of social movements. This includes efforts to expand understanding of the role of collective action in collective healing. In partnership with Humanity United, Beyond Conflict is also distilling learning from brain and behavioral science to develop evidence-based guidance for use by advocates globally to inform their messaging strategies concerning their movement’s overarching goals and chosen approach.