Center for Conflict and Cooperation

Polarization continues to rise in many parts of the world, fueled by many factors, including: the proliferation of social media, populist movements, and the growing influence of partisanship. Therefore, it is important to study the causes and consequences of polarization, as well as to identify and implement effective interventions to reduce it. Only by understanding and addressing this issue can we hope to promote more constructive and inclusive discourse, maintain individual freedoms, and foster a more peaceful and prosperous world. 

This project from Jay Van Bavel’s Social Identity & Morality Lab, aims to establish a Center at New York University to conduct and coordinate global, large-scale research on this topic while effectively sharing these results with the public.

The project team envisions the Center for Conflict and Cooperation as a global hub that coordinates massive collaborative research with scholars around the world interested in topics related to social identity, morality, political polarization, and social media. So far, the lab has organized collaborations including research teams in over 60 countries. The Center will bring together scholars and methods from a variety of fields, including psychology, political science, and sociology, to conduct both basic and applied research on the topic.

The Center's research agenda will focus on several key research approaches. First, the Center will study the social, psychological, technological, and economic factors that drive individuals and groups to engage in polarization, support ideological extremism, spread misinformation, and threaten public health. Second, the Center will examine ways to reduce polarization on various aspects of society, while building trust, increasing cooperation, and fostering inclusive identities Third, the Center will support scalable interventions to reduce polarization, by crowdsourcing and testing ideas from a large pool of global collaborators.