Social media exacerbated rifts. Collaboration may facilitate repair.

Algorithm-driven online feeds have intensified the division between red and blue America. However, a new digital tool might aid in unifying the nation.

The virtual quiz platform Tango, created at Harvard, unites Democrats and Republicans on shared teams, where bipartisanship rapidly becomes a competitive edge. “It stands in stark contrast to the hostile, divisive content prevalent on social media,” remarked Tango co-creator Joshua D. Greene ’97, a psychology professor and co-author of the newly released study measuring the game’s effects.

The findings, released this week in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, indicated reduced negative partisanship, heightened warmth, and even enhanced financial generosity among U.S. participants from contrasting parties. The impact was likened, the authors stated, to reversing around 15 years of escalating polarization in American political discourse.

Furthermore, the transformations endured long after just one hour of gameplay.

“We consistently observe that the effects remain for at least a month and often extend up to four months after just a single session,” Greens reported, whose research collaborators include current and former students from the Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

“We consistently observe that the effects remain for at least a month and often extend up to four months after just a single session.” 

Joshua D. Greene

Greene’s fascination with intergroup conflict commenced following the release of “Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them” (2013).

“I was pleased with the book,” he reflected. “However, it was predominantly philosophical and offered limited practical advice for real-world solutions. For me, that prompted a sort of reckoning about how to allocate my time.”

The experimental psychologist, neuroscientist, and philosopher soon found himself revisiting fundamental tenets in both the life and social sciences.

“These principles were steering in the same direction,” he stated. “Essentially, everything revolves around mutually advantageous cooperation. Molecules unite to create cells; cells form increasingly complex life forms and organisms with organs that collaborate. Individuals establish societies, tribes, chiefdoms, and nations, and occasionally United Nations.

“At every single tier,” Greene elaborated, “the reason the world isn’t merely primordial soup is due to the ability of parts to unite into wholes that can achieve more together than they can individually.”

But how can we guide Americans toward this evolutionary sweet spot?

Former graduate student Evan DeFilippis, M.A ’19, M.B.A. ’22, was engaged to brainstorm solutions that were both more scalable and significantly more enjoyable compared to the typical dialogue circle. Later joining the project team were Shankar Ravi, M.Ed. ’22, a data/software expert in Greene’s lab, and Lucas Woodley ’23, a doctoral candidate in psychology and the lead author of the new paper.

As an undergraduate studying economics and psychology, Woodley became intrigued by conflict resolution after enrolling in a Gen Ed course conducted by Harvard Medical School’s Daniel Shapiro. Woodley and a few classmates subsequently co-authored a book on negotiation, featuring a complimentary, hands-on curriculum for educators and students.

“People frequently reached out to share, ‘Hey, I tried this exercise in my classroom, and it was highly successful — the students enjoyed it immensely.’ But it was always on a very limited scope,” Woodley said. “As I pondered ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have an intervention that was much more scalable while still retaining that element of fun?’ I was applying to graduate schools when I encountered Josh.”

With assistance from the Washington, D.C.-based Global Development Incubator, the Tango project team constructed a platform that offers players across the U.S. three rounds of trivia. Field tests have produced a collection of questions that reliably showcase partisan knowledge divides. Some pertain to cultural contexts, favoring either Democrats (“Who are the main characters from ‘Stranger Things’ on Netflix?”) or Republicans (“Name the family from ‘Duck Dynasty.’”).

Other inquiries are tailored to affirm or question partisan convictions. For instance, Americans on the left are more likely to be aware that immigrants in the U.S. commit relatively few crimes. Right-leaning participants are less aware that relatively few firearm fatalities involve assault-style firearms.

“We incorporate uncomfortable truths for both parties. Participants still left us feedback expressing their desire to play again.”

Lucas Woodley

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“incorporate uncomfortable realities for both parties,” Woodley stated. “Individuals still left us remarks expressing their desire to play again.”

Throughout the experience, pairs depend on Tango’s messaging feature to synchronize their responses. As Woodley noted, this encourages discussions as well as brief celebrations of a partner’s input. “That appears to be what renders the game so impactful,” he remarked.

The scholarly article encompasses five randomized controlled trials involving nearly 5,000 U.S. participants who were enlisted online. In one of the studies, Democrats and Republicans received $100 to distribute as they wished. Those who partnered with a political adversary showed significantly more generosity towards individuals from the opposing camp.

Ultimately, the Tango team aspires to establish regularly timed sessions where Americans in general can participate in game nights at letstango.org. Woodley also imagines patrons stumbling upon Tango at their neighborhood pub. For the moment, they’ve devised other innovative methods for distributing a game that necessitates concurrent play.

With backing from the President’s Building Bridges Fund, Woodley collaborated this spring with undergraduate Houses and a GSAS student organization to host a two-hour Tango event. The project team has already engaged thousands of undergraduates through introductions at various U.S. campuses and recently completed its first trial with employees at a Fortune 500 firm.

“Many business leaders feel pressured to choose sides — and they merely want to market a product,” said Greene, who foresees for-profit organizations eventually incentivizing Tango with discounts and other customer rewards.

As polarization rises globally, the team is also developing customized versions of Tango for different national settings. Pilot testing is currently happening in Israel, with inquiries for India and Northern Ireland in progress.

Constructive conversation remains an essential intervention in these fragmented societies, Greene mentioned. “However, what enables dialogue to even occur is a fundamental sense of mutual respect and openness — of believing ‘this individual is on my side.’

“Thus, what we aim to achieve with this game is to broaden the concept of ‘us,’” he elaborated. “It resembles less two intelligent individuals debating immigration and more two primates grooming each other for bugs.”

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