Opinion Science
A show about the psychology of opinions, where they come from, and how they change. Interviews with experts and deep dives into areas of research uncover the basic psychology of persuasion, communication, and public opinion. Hosted by social psychologist, Andy Luttrell.
Episodes
141 episodes
#101: Studying Persuasion with Rich Petty
Dr. Richard Petty is a professor of psychology at Ohio State University. He's probably best known for co-developing the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion (but he's don...
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Season 7
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Episode 2
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1:12:18
#100: A Unified Model of Persuasion
In the 1980s, two social psychologists--Rich Petty and John Cacioppo--devised a new way to make sense of persuasion: the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Their work came on the heels of an era in psychology when people were fed up ...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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52:54
#99 The Power of Random Roommates with Sarah Gaither and Analia Albuja
Drs. Sarah Gaither and Analia Albuja study racial identity and how we can overcome racial biases. They just published an important new stud...
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Season 6
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Episode 20
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51:07
#98: Deep Canvassing with Dave Fleischer
Dave Fleischer is a political organizer who led the team that pioneered “deep canvassing,” which is a particularly effective form of face-to-face persuasion. It was developed on the ground, but when political scientists put it to a rigorous tes...
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Season 6
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Episode 19
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1:09:35
#97: Opinions and Reputations with Christian Wheeler
Christian Wheeler studies the intersection of opinions, communication, and personal identity. He’s a professor of management and marketing at the Sta...
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Season 6
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Episode 18
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59:45
#96: Anti-Science Views with Aviva Philipp-Muller
Aviva Philipp-Muller studies why people might pass on science. She’s an Assistant Professor of marketing at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University. We talked about her r...
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Season 6
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Episode 17
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58:17
#95: Marketing Across Cultures with Aaron Barnes
Aaron Barnes is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Louisville College of Business. He studies how persuasion, bra...
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Season 6
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Episode 16
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1:01:58
#94: Bringing Behavioral Science to Government with David Halpern
David Halpern is the President & Founding Director of the Behavioral Insights Team. It started as a "nudge uni...
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Season 6
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Episode 15
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50:29
#93: A Life in Behavioral Science with Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman was a titan in social science. He transformed our understanding of decision-making, he taught a generation about social psychology, he won a Nobel prize. It's hard to overstate his influence. He
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Season 6
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Episode 14
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1:05:10
#92: Can We Fix Social Media? with Andy Guess
Andy Guess studies how social media platforms shape people’s political views. He’s an assistant professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University. Last summer, he was part of a big team...
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Season 6
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Episode 13
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59:40
#91: Being a Social Science Maverick with Sendhil Mullainathan
Sendhil Mullainathan does a lot of things, and he does them well. He’s a professor of Computation and Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. I originally talked to S...
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Season 6
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Episode 12
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1:12:09
"...Ridiculous" Ep. 5: The Future!
To look into the future of Behavioral Economics, we talked to three young researchers who are pushing the field further. A new generation of researchers is striving to understand decision-making in the developing world, how brains process econo...
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Season 7
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Episode 5
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37:53
"...Ridiculous" Ep. 4: Behavioral Economics Goes Mainstream
Eventually, Behavioral Economics emerged as an influential perspective. It’s become mainstream in Economics, and it’s helped inform programs and policies that affect real people every day. This is the fourth episode of a special se...
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Season 7
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Episode 4
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41:52
"...Ridiculous" Ep. 3: Children of Unlikely Parents
Behavioral Economics was using psychology to understand economics, but what did economists and psychologists think about their unexpected marriage? Slowly, this fledgling field weathered a flurry of criticism from both sides as it doggedly held...
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Season 7
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Episode 3
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31:51
"...Ridiculous" Ep. 2: Importing Psychology
Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky were two psychologists with big ideas about how people made decisions. Their careful research launched a brand new way of understanding people’s choices, and it helped fan the flames of Behavioral Economics....
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Season 7
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Episode 2
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39:37
"...Ridiculous" Ep. 1: Beyond Anomalies
For years, neoclassical economists have made an unusual assumption—that people are rational decision-makers. But a few social scientists have dared to challenge that assumption. They’ve collected observations, analyzed data, and presented their...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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38:15
Introducing: "They Thought We Were Ridiculous: The Unlikely Story of Behavioral Economics"
Coming February 26th! I team up with the guys at Behavioral Groovesto produce a 5-part podcast series on behavioral economics. We tell the story of how some young social scie...
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2:37
#90: How Prejudice Works with Jack Dovidio
Jack Dovidio's work is at the heart of how we currently understand the psychology of prejudice. He's spent his career considering where prejudice comes from, how people express it, how it biases...
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Season 6
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Episode 11
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56:14
#89: Opinions of our Partners with Jim McNulty
Jim McNulty is a professor of psychology at Florida State University. He studies close relationships, and in this episode, we talk about his research on "automatic partner attitudes...
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Season 6
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Episode 10
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52:10
BONUS: "Best" of Opinion Science (2023)
Happy New Year! For the first time in the show's history, this episode's a day late. Sorry, dear listeners.So it's 2024, and what better way to kick off the new year than to dive into some nostalgia for 2023 already? As has become tradi...
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1:02:14
#88: Studying Happiness with Liz Dunn
Elizabeth Dunn studies the psychology of happiness. One of her major research areas has looked at generosity's effects on well-being. We're happier when we spend money on other people. But studyin...
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Season 6
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Episode 9
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53:14
#87: How Juries Decide with Mikaela Spruill
Mikaela Spruill studies juries and the legal system’s role in sustaining social inequalities. She’s a postdoctoral fellow in criminal justice with S...
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Season 6
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Episode 8
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56:01
#86: Framing Political Issues with James Druckman
James Druckman studies how political messages can shape people's opinions. He is maybe best known for his work on framing issues as a strategic communica...
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Season 6
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Episode 7
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57:37