Can We Disagree Better? A Harvard Professor Has Tips.

Knowing how to disagree well may be one of today’s most important skills, and most of us are bad at it. Political dialogue in the United States has grown increasingly fractured, and the numbers reflect it: according to Pew Research Center data from February, 56 percent of Americans now say they have stopped talking to certain people about political news because of something they said—up from 45 percent in 2024.

Julia Minson, a behavioral scientist and professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, has spent her career studying conflict management, negotiation, and the psychology of disagreement. Her book How to Disagree Better will be published next week.

She shared practical strategies for engaging with people we disagree with in an interview with Harvard Magazine. (This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)

Read more from Harvard Magazine