Julia Minson is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is a decision scientist with research interests in conflict management, negotiations, and judgment and decision making. Her main line of research addresses the “psychology of disagreement” – How do people engage with opinions, values, and judgments that conflict with their own?
Her work examines disagreements around hot-button, identity-relevant topics — conflicts around politics, values, and professional, and health decision-making. She is interested in simple, scalable interventions to help people become more receptive to the opposing views of others.
Minson also studies group decision-making to uncover the psychological biases that prevent managers, consumers, and policy-makers from maximizing the benefits of collaboration. This includes research on the under-weighting of advice, “wisdom of crowds,” and overconfidence.
Much of Julia’s research is conducted in collaboration with the graduate and post-doctoral members of Constructive Disagreement Lab (CDL). Julia is also the founder of the Constructive Disagreement Project — a project dedicated to disseminating cutting edge research and developing interventions for professionals in government, education, healthcare, and the media.
