Research & Evaluation
Internal
Research Note: 1:1 Conversations — Overview and Comparisons
Research note evaluating Braver Angels 1:1 Conversations against other major BA programs. Finds that 1:1 Conversations perform as well as or better than many visible workshops, generate the highest Net Promoter Score, and appear especially effective for Republican and Republican-leaning participants.
+ Eliza Tanner Hawkins
Research Note: Depolarizing Effects — Changes Within Individuals After Participating in BA Events
Research note analyzing matched pre/post survey responses from BA participants. Reports an 8.14-point increase in outgroup feeling thermometer scores and moderate effect sizes compared to broader depolarization literature.
+ Eliza Tanner Hawkins
Changing Our Views of Each Other: Braver Angels Depolarizing Efforts, 2020–2025
Advanced quantitative analysis of BA depolarization efforts over five years. Uses mixed-effects regression controlling for demographics and geography to estimate effects of workshops on polarization outcomes. Finds significant reductions in polarization, especially in Common Ground and Red/Blue workshops.
+ Grant Mitchell, Julia Chatterley, Eliza Tanner Hawkins, Jeff Witmer, and Kirk Hawkins
Braver Angels Evaluation Report, 2024. Part 1: Key Findings from Surveys of People Who Attended Workshops and Events Between 2020–2023
Statistical analysis of participant survey data across multiple BA programs. Finds significant increases in positive feelings toward political outgroups after participation, especially in Red/Blue workshops. Includes demographic subgroup analyses and educational effects.
+ Braver Angels Evaluation Team: Eliza Tanner Hawkins and Jeff Witmer
Braver Angels Evaluation Report, 2024. Part 2: Overview of Events, Participants, and Feedback, 2020–2023
Organizational overview examining event counts, registrations, participant demographics, workshop growth/decline, and survey response rates. Includes extensive workshop-by-workshop operational breakdowns.
+ Braver Angels Evaluation Team: Eliza Tanner Hawkins and Jeff Witmer
Braver Angels 2020–2022 Overview: Report on Workshops and Events
Major overview report summarizing Braver Angels growth, participant outcomes, and depolarization effects from 2020–2022. Introduces the “Relative Dislike” index and reports statistically significant decreases in polarization after Red/Blue workshops.
+ Eliza Tanner Hawkins and Braver Angels Evaluation Team contributors
Braver Angels 2020–2021 Report: Depolarizing During the Pandemic
Comprehensive internal evaluation report covering Braver Angels programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Documents transition to online programming, workshop theory of change, demographic shifts, depolarization findings, and special initiatives such as With Malice Toward None. Includes discussion of an early randomized controlled trial of workshops.
+ Braver Angels Evaluation Steering Committee; special thanks to Eliza Tanner Hawkins, April Chatham-Carpenter, Amy Schumacher-Rutherford, Tayla Ingles, and Paul Kuhne
Participant-Identified Effects of Better Angels Experiences
First large-scale internal evaluation of Better Angels programs, analyzing approximately 1,800 participant surveys across Red/Blue Workshops, Skills Workshops, debates, and alliances. The report found substantial increases in mutual understanding, reduced estrangement, stronger communication skills, and greater willingness to engage constructively across political differences. It also discusses methodological limitations such as self-selection, self-reporting, and lack of longitudinal measurement.
+ Jane Jacobs, Paul Kuhne, and C.J. Peek; editorial review by David Blankenhorn
External
“Braver Angels: Performing Comity in a Polarized Era”
Examines Braver Angels workshops as civic performances that cultivate empathy and respectful dialogue through ritualized interaction, storytelling, and active listening. Argues BA workshops may help reduce affective polarization and foster civic flourishing.
“Couples Therapy for a Divided America: Assessing the Effects of Reciprocal Group Reflection on Partisan Polarization”
Randomized controlled trial of Braver Angels Red/Blue workshops among university students. Finds significant reductions in explicit and implicit affective polarization and increased support for depolarization initiatives.
“Depolarizing within the Comfort of Your Party: Experimental Evidence from Online Workshops”
Experimental study comparing cross-partisan and within-party Braver Angels workshops. Finds that Depolarizing Within workshops reduced partisan animosity while some cross-partisan formats did not.
“Civic Community Listening: The Nexus of Storytelling and Listening Within Civic Communities”
Ethnographic case study of a Braver Angels alliance examining empathic listening and storytelling as mechanisms for building civic dialogue across political difference.
“‘But I Don’t Know If I Want to Talk to You’: Strategies to Foster Conversational Receptiveness across the United States’ Political Divide”
Analyzes Braver Angels Red/Blue workshop facilitation practices and identifies conversational receptiveness strategies including active listening, perspective-taking, and structured dialogue.
Braver Angels: A Grassroots Effort to Depolarize American Politics
Harvard Business School case study describing the origins, organizational strategy, and depolarization goals of Braver Angels.
“Bridging the Divide on Climate Solutions: Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Online Workshop for Climate Volunteers”
Evaluates a climate communication workshop based on Braver Angels’ Skills for Bridging the Divide framework. Finds improved communication confidence and constructive engagement skills.
“Religion as a Resource in an Increasingly Polarized Society”
Discusses Braver Angels as an example of a depolarization initiative in the United States.
“Engaging with Populists: Mitigating Populist Polarization”
Discusses Braver Angels as a practical example of efforts to reduce affective polarization and engage across populist divides.
“Rehearsing Civility: Bridgebuilding in Polarized America”
Case study of Braver Angels arguing that bridge-building workshops allow participants to “rehearse civility.”
“Interventions to Reduce Partisan Animosity”
Broad overview of depolarization interventions that includes Braver Angels as a national organization focused on reducing partisan conflict.
“Civil Leadership for Vibrant Communities: Building Bridges through Deliberative Dialogue”
Describes a University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension collaboration with Braver Angels to foster civic leadership and deliberative dialogue.
“Braver Angels: Counteracting Political Polarization”
Book chapter describing the history, development, workshops, and citizen-therapy framework behind Braver Angels.
“Mitigating Illiberalism Will Require Civic Virtue, Not Just Institutional Tweaks”
Discusses Braver Angels as one example of organizations promoting civic virtue and reducing polarization.
“Content That’s as Good as Contact? Vicarious Intergroup Contact and the Promise of Depolarization at Scale”
Experimental study testing whether watching a Braver Angels documentary can reduce partisan animosity through “vicarious intergroup contact.” Participants who viewed a 50-minute documentary featuring respectful cross-partisan dialogue became less hostile toward political outgroups and less likely to endorse negative stereotypes. The study suggests that media-based depolarization interventions may be more scalable than direct interpersonal contact interventions.
“Why Depolarization Is Hard: Evaluating Attempts to Decrease Partisan Animosity in America”
Major meta-analysis evaluating depolarization interventions in the United States. Finds that most interventions produce modest and short-lived reductions in partisan animosity (average 5.4-point shift on a 101-point feeling thermometer scale). Concludes that individual-level interventions alone are unlikely to solve societal polarization without structural and elite-level changes. Frequently used as a benchmark comparison in Braver Angels evaluation reports.
Braver Angels Skill-Building Workshops: A Plan for Skills Reinforcement
Graduate research paper examining Braver Angels skills-training workshops, especially Skills for Bridging the Divide and Depolarizing Within. Uses interviews with participants and internal BA survey data to evaluate attitudes toward repeating workshops for skills reinforcement. Finds that participants generally support repeated exposure and skills practice, though BA leadership rarely explicitly encourages workshop repetition. Argues that repeated engagement and reinforcement may strengthen long-term depolarization outcomes.
Reflecting and Revealing – New Depolarization Approaches in the Climate Debate
Master’s thesis adapting the Braver Angels “Reciprocal Group Reflection” method to climate polarization in Germany. Thirty-six participants participated in five workshops involving proponents and critics of rapid climate action. Quantitative findings showed limited but occasionally significant depolarization effects, while qualitative analysis identified areas of agreement, communication dynamics, and themes related to urgency, economic concerns, and climate policy. The study argues that U.S.-developed depolarization methods can be adapted cross-nationally but may operate differently in multi-party political systems.