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Narrative 4
A joint study from the University of Oxford and The Ohio State University reveals compelling evidence that storytelling reduces polarisation and measurably strengthens emotional connection, active citizenship and social cohesion among high school students.
The study, conducted in partnership with global non-profit organisation Narrative 4, evaluated 380 10th- and 11th-grade students across a politically diverse spectrum in five school districts in the US state of Kentucky during the 2024–2025 school year.
The lead researchers, Dr Emily Kubin (Experimental Psychology, Oxford) and Dr Kurt Gray (Ohio State University), measured empathy, curiosity, perspective-taking, classroom climate and civic readiness before and after the young people shared stories with one another.
The intervention, Narrative 4's Story Exchange methodology, has been used in over 30 countries, with more than one million stories shared to date. The Story Exchange is a structured group workshop in which participants prepare a story about a significant personal experience and share it with a partner. Participants then retell their partner's story to the group in the first person, as if it were their own.
Read the full story on the Department of Experimental Psychology website.