The Art and Science of Disagreeing: How to Create More Effective Conversations About Opposing Views

Abstract

Disagreement is an unavoidable part of social life. Because no two people hold identical beliefs, knowledge, values, or goals, opposing viewpoints are bound to arise at some point in the pursuit of personal and collective interests in professional organizations, civic spaces, and personal relationships. A large literature has suggested that engaging with diverse viewpoints can create numerous benefits. However, people often struggle to handle disagreement constructively. The presence of contradictory opinions often gives rise to negative affect, biased information processing, and negative inferences about the other side, resulting in either argumentation and escalated conflicts or disengagement and avoidance. Such reactions keep people from reaping the benefits of diverse viewpoints and threaten the prosperity of organizations and our society as a whole. How can people engage with disagreement more effectively through dialogues? This symposium aims to introduce four innovative empirical papers that investigate different aspects of effective conversations about opposing views ranging from affective experiences to communication medium and language to interpersonal processes. Each paper identifies an important barrier to effective communication and offers a unique practical solution to help people create more productive conversations when disagreement arises. Moreover, this symposium showcases a broad range of research methods for studying conflict of opinions, including randomized experiments in lab and field settings, archival analysis, content analysis, and machine learning techniques. Taken together, this symposium provides attendees interested in communication and conflicts in organizational and civic life with new ideas and methodologies for future research as well as insights into effective interventions to meet a wide variety of communication challenges. The Unexpected Affective Benefits of Counter-Arguing Presenter: Charles A. Dorison; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Presenter: Julia Alexandra Minson; Harvard Kennedy School Resolving Conflict Through Conversation: The Role of Communication Medium in Conflict Outcomes Presenter: Juliana Schroeder; U. of California, Berkeley Conversational Receptiveness: Improving Engagement with Opposing Views Presenter: Michael Yeomans; Harvard Business School Thank You, Because...: Discussing Differences While Finding Common Ground Presenter: Xuan Zhao; U. of Chicago Booth School of business Presenter: Heather M. Caruso; UCLA Anderson School of Management Presenter: Jane Risen; U. of Chicago Booth School of business