Person Over Position

Unpacking the Impacts of Experience-Sharing on Social Evaluations, Emotions, and Engagement in Opinionated Discourse

This research examines how sharing personal experiences, rather than opinions, improves social discourse across ideological divides. Across three studies with nearly 2,000 American adults, we found that statements of experience (SoEs) significantly improved social evaluations of speakers compared to statements of opinion (SoOs), with listeners perceiving experience-sharers as more authentic, trustworthy, and emotionally resonant. We found that even when we disagree with another’s stance, hearing their personal experiences creates empathetic connections that bypass defensive reactions to opposing views. Our work challenges traditional deliberative models that emphasize rational debate as the primary pathway to mutual understanding, suggesting that to address increasing social polarization, we must instead create spaces where people can safely share and hear the lived experiences that shape their diverse perspectives.