Can Psychology Depolarise the Public? Free event

The Open University warmly invites you to the Royal Society of Edinburgh's Wellcome West Room to explore how social psychology could depolarise the British public. The day is kindly funded by the Rachael Webb Political Psychology Studentship, The Open University's Culture and Social Psychology strand (CuSP), and Open Psychology Research Centre (OPRC).

This intimate event is open to the public, policy-makers, and researchers alike. This knowledge transfer will offer a thought-provoking opportunity to interact and discuss political polarisation with the following experts and innovative new researchers:

Speakers and topics:

Polarisation and the Public Dialogue Psychology Collaboratory.

Dr Tabitha Baker (Bournemouth University) - Understanding the political psychology of defence mechanisms.
Dr Ana-Maria Bluic (Dundee University) - Harnessing the positive, transformative power of dissent on social media.
Dr. Kesi Mahendran (The Open University) - Playing politics: The art and science of handling political power.
Kate Holliday (Edinburgh University) - How framing a controversial issue influences political actors and debate.
Dr Anthony English (The Open University & Lancaster University) - Exploring how politically polarised individuals can sustain dialogue on a vexed issue.
Dr Sandra Obradović (The Open University) - How to challenge stereotypes and remove group boundaries during political discourse.