Persuasive Conversations: the relative importance of narratives and a non-judgmental exchange for reducing exclusionary attitudes

Last registered on August 16, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Persuasive Conversations: the relative importance of narratives and a non-judgmental exchange for reducing exclusionary attitudes
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011880
Initial registration date
August 14, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
August 16, 2023, 11:21 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Kenya
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Sana Khan
Affiliation
Princeton University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Elizabeth Paluck
PI Affiliation
Princeton University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Andrew Zeitlin
PI Affiliation
Georgetown University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2022-12-05
End date
2023-12-31
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
perspective-getting, perspective-taking, analogic perspective-taking, narrative impact, prejudicial attitudes, prejudice reduction
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
Recent research suggests that perspective-getting (i.e. listening to the personal narrative of another) when embedded in a bundled intervention improves feelings towards minoritized others and reduces exclusionary attitudes towards them in real world settings. These bundled interventions, however, contain other psychological components, such as creating an opportunity for introspection and sharing of one's own perspective or story or creating a non-judgmental environment for an exchange of perspectives, which could have an independent impact on feelings towards the other or on prejudicial attitudes. In the current study, we investigate the impact of three different stand-alone psychological interventions (perspective-getting; analogic perspective-taking, i.e. sharing one's own related experience or story to understand the perspective of the other; and, an exchange of reasons/perspectives in a non-judgmental environment) relative to a control group and to one another to understand the absolute and relative importance of narrative and of a non-judgmental exchange for prejudice reduction towards refugees. The setting for our study is Nairobi, Kenya. We examine the impact of these interventions on feelings and attitudes towards refugees as our primary outcomes of interest immediately after the intervention and 3 and 6 months from when the intervention is administered.
External Link(s)
Link to original RCT trial registry. The current study leverages ongoing data collection for the RCT to administer the survey experiment and to collect follow-up data

Registration Citation

Citation
Khan, Sana, Elizabeth Paluck and Andrew Zeitlin. 2023. "Persuasive Conversations: the relative importance of narratives and a non-judgmental exchange for reducing exclusionary attitudes." AEA RCT Registry. August 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11880-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
1. Study participants in the control condition are only administered the measurement component of the survey experiment.

2. Study participants in the rhetorical exchange research arm engage in an exchange with the enumerator conducting the survey. The exchange begins with the enumerator asking the respondent to elaborate on/give reasons for their response to their feelings toward either Somali or Congolese refugees on a feelings thermometer (0-100 scale). Irrespective of the participants' response, the enumerator thanks them for sharing their reasons, explains why the enumerator thinks it is important to have this conversation, and offers to share their own reasons for how they feel. This research arm is meant as a non-judgmental exchange focusing on reasons without any personal narrative component or argumentation, at least by design.

3. Study participants assigned to the perspective-getting research arm listen to a personal narrative of a Somali or Congolese refugee living in Nairobi narrated by the enumerator. The narrative talks about the circumstances under which the individual/refugee left their home country, their separation from their family, their journey and the hardship they have experienced establishing themselves in this new location separated from their loved ones. Similar to the other active research arms, at the end of the personal narrative, the enumerator offers a summary of why they think it is important to listen to the perspective of others.

4. Study participants assigned to the analogic perspective-taking research arm, the enumerator asks the participant to recall a story from their own experience of a time they felt unsafe or felt like they were not in control of their life. If the participant does not have a personal story to share, the enumerator encourages them to recall the experience of a loved one. The enumerator engages the participant in an exchange about what that experience felt like for the respondent. At the end of the respondents' personal narrative, the enumerator draws a parallel from the respondents' story to the experiences of others, including refugees. Similar to the other active research arms, at the end of the exchange, the enumerator offers a summary of why they think it is important to have these kinds of conversations.
Intervention Start Date
2022-12-05
Intervention End Date
2023-06-02

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Feelings towards refugees; Attitudes towards refugees
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Support for policies promoting the well-being of refugees; willingness to engage in policy discussion (immediate measurement only)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We utilize the structure of the ongoing RCT to conduct stratified random assignment at the level of the individual for this study. By RCT cohort (6 total), we stratify on original (RCT) treatment assignment, "role" type in original RCT (mentor or mentee) and gender and randomly assign participants to one of four research arms with equal assignment probability: (i) control; (ii) rhetorical exchange; (iii) perspective-getting; and (iv) analogic perspective-taking. For the rhetorical exchange and perspective-getting arms, stratifying on gender and "role", we further randomly assign participants to a specific nationality (either Congolese or Somali) refugee target with equal assignment probability. The study is rolled out on a cohort by cohort basis given the 3-month data collection timeline for the RCT.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by a computer using stata
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
NA
Sample size: planned number of observations
2931
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
control: 691
rhetorical exchange: 747
perspective-getting: 718
analogic perspective-taking: 775
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Georgetown University
IRB Approval Date
2023-01-05
IRB Approval Number
STUDY00004279 (MOD00012452)
IRB Name
Amref Health Africa in Kenya
IRB Approval Date
2022-12-08
IRB Approval Number
P1097/2021
Analysis Plan

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
June 02, 2023, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
No
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials