Talk by Melissa Michelson, Ph.D.

The co-author of Listen, We Need to Talk: How to Change Attitudes about LGBT Rights will discusses rapidly-evolving public attitudes toward marriage equality and other hot-button issues. Come to hear Melissa Michelson, Ph.D., speak about the book that she wrote with Brian Harrison.

The event runs until 4:30 p.m.

Michelson teaches in the political science department at Menlo College (California) and has written award-winning books about race, ethnicity, and politics.

A description of Listen, We Need to Talk (2017) from Oxford University Press:

[The] research tests a new theory, what Brian Harrison and Melissa Michelson call The Theory of Dissonant Identity Priming, about how to change people’s attitudes on controversial topics. Harrison and Michelson conducted randomized experiments all over the United States, many in partnership with equality organizations, including Equality Illinois, Georgia Equality, Lambda Legal, Equality Maryland, and Louisiana’s Capital City Alliance. They found that people are often willing to change their attitudes about LGBT rights when they find out that others with whom they share an identity (for example, as sports fans or members of a religious group) are also supporters of those rights—particularly when told about support from a leader of the group, and particularly if they find the information somewhat surprising.

Fans of the Green Bay Packers football team were influenced by hearing that a Packers Hall-of-Famer is a supporter of LGBT rights. African Americans were influenced by hearing that the Black president of the United States is a supporter. Religious individuals were influenced by hearing that a religious leader is a supporter. And strong partisans were influenced by hearing that a leader of their party is a supporter. Through a series of engaging experiments and compelling evidence, Listen, We Need to Talk provides a blueprint for thinking about how to bring disparate groups together over contentious political issues.