New study reveals that while high-quality, nonjudgmental listening improves how people feel about a conversation—reducing defensiveness and enhancing perceptions of the listener—it does not make persuasive messages more effective at changing attitudes. Using a large-scale field experiment on immigration, the researchers found that sharing a compelling personal narrative significantly and durably shifted participants’ views, regardless of whether the speaker practiced active listening. This challenges the widespread belief that listening is essential for persuasion, suggesting instead that what is said may matter more than how empathetically it is delivered.

[Hebrew University] A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) challenges long-held beliefs about the power of listening to facilitate persuasion. The research was led by Dr. Roni Porat from the Department of International Relations and Political Science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with Dr. Erik Santoro (Columbia University), Dr. David E. Broockman (University of California), and Dr. Joshua L. Kalla (Yale University).

For decades, scholars and practitioners have promoted the idea that high-quality, nonjudgmental listening can reduce defensiveness and increase openness during difficult conversations, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of persuasion. But does listening actually change minds?

To rigorously test this assumption, the research team conducted a large-scale, preregistered field experiment involving nearly 1,500 U.S. participants. Participants engaged in ten-minute video conversations with trained canvassers acting as confederates. The topic: in-state tuition for unauthorized immigrants —a highly contentious and socially relevant issue.

In a randomized design, a technique that previous work established is effective at persuasion, some conversations included a persuasive personal narrative about an undocumented immigrant, while others did not. Independently, some canvassers practiced high-quality nonjudgmental listening, while others did not. Researchers measured participants' attitudes both immediately after the conversation and five weeks later.

The results were striking:

Persuasive narratives alone led to meaningful, lasting changes in attitudes toward undocumented immigrants and related policy positions.

High-quality listening, while it improved perceptions of the persuader and reduced emotional defensiveness, did not enhance the persuasive effect of the narrative.

These findings suggest that while listening can foster better interpersonal connection, it may not directly amplify persuasion as commonly assumed.

“This challenges a foundational assumption in how we approach dialogue across divides,” said Dr. Roni Porat. “While listening has clear interpersonal value, its role in changing minds may be more limited than previously thought.”

The study has important implications for political organizers, conflict mediators, and anyone working to bridge social and ideological divides. It suggests that the content of what is said—particularly personal narratives—may matter more for persuasion than how it is said, at least when it comes to deeply held political attitudes.