Perspective taking through model building: A path to open-mindedness and de-polarization?

Being open-minded about controversial issues and willing to take other perspectives can help reduce political polarization. We investigated the use of perspective taking through the construction of causal models of conflicting viewpoints, aiming to enhance traits associated with an open-minded mindset and reduce aspects of polarization. In a randomized classroom quasi-experiment, 1,479 students in introductory courses at two US universities completed measures of open-mindedness at the beginning and end of the semester. Students in the treatment condition (N = 636) completed three assignments modeling opposing perspectives on controversial issues. While participants in the control condition exhibited declines in perspective-taking, open-minded cognition, and intellectual humility, those in the treatment condition did not. Treatment participants were more likely to perceive attitudinally dissimilar others as rational. These findings suggest students may experience declines in open-mindedn..., This data was collected in introductory courses in economics, environmental studies, and psychology at Oberlin College and Michigan State University in the 2021 - 2022 academic year.  Class instructors informed students that they had chosen to participate in a “research effort to identify the most effective ways to help students think about complex problems.” Students who chose to participate completed a pre-survey at the beginning of the semester and a post-survey at the end. The surveys measured perspective taking, intellectual humility, and open-mindedness as well as attitudes on three controversial issues. Class sections were either assigned to the control or the treatment condition. In the treatment group, participants were additionally presented with three Mental Modeler assignments during the semester and answered brief surveys directly after turning in each assignment. 
Each assignment was focused on a controversial topic: the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO..., The files were created in SPSS, but have been exported to csv format., # Perspective Taking Through Model Building to Increase Open-minded Thinking

## Description of the data and file structure

There are two data files associated with this study. The data files were created in SPSS, but exported to a CSV file to make it accessible to those without an SPSS license. Data from Time 1 and Time 2, and across institutions and classrooms, have been merged into a single data set named **DataforPerspectiveTakingThroughModelBuilding.csv**. Each row corresponding to data collected from one individual. Missing data is indicated with a blank field. Metadata detailing the meaning of each variable and value labels is available in the CSV file **MetadataforPerspectiveTakingThroughModelBuilding.csv**.
A second datafile named **HLMDataforPerspectiveTakingThroughModelBuilding.csv** was restructured from the first to run HLM analyses. In this data file, each row corresponds to data collected from one individual at one point in time.  Metadata detailing the meaning of each v..., We received explicit consent from participants to publish de-identified data in the public domain. The only identifiers included in the dataset are those necessary to reproduce our analyses (gender, school, semester enrolled in a participating course).