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Aspects of marriage counseling may hold the key to depolarizing, unifying the country, study finds

2025-01-30T09:00:00-05:00

Laura Gamboa, assistant professor of democracy and global affairs at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs.

Research has shown that polarization undermines democracy by driving citizens to prioritize partisan preferences over democratic principles, encourages democratic gridlock and threatens democratic attitudes and norms, such as tolerance for opposition.

Today, Americans are grappling with deep political divides, often seeing those on the other side as untrustworthy, unpatriotic and misinformed — a rift that threatens democracy.

Could marriage counseling hold the key to a more unified country?

A recent study, published in Political Behavior and co-authored by Laura Gamboa, an assistant professor of democracy and global affairs at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, found “reciprocal group reflection” — an intervention inspired by marriage counseling — helped reduce affective polarization among opposing political parties.

“Polarization threatens democracy, and finding ways to reduce it is vital,” Gamboa said. “This study uses a unique approach to understand why a proven depolarizing intervention works. With depolarizing efforts multiplying across the U.S., understanding not just if they work, but how and why, is more important than ever.”

The study brought together groups of undergraduate students on four university campuses who identify as Democrats and Republicans. They attended workshops designed on practices used in couples counseling that seek to elicit mutual vulnerability and compassion while working to improve the health of the marriage. Researchers partnered with Braver Angels, a non-governmental organization, to utilize the group’s “red/blue” workshops designed to apply principles from couples therapy to partisan polarization.

During the workshops, study participants mainly interacted with members of their own group, reflecting on the attitudes, beliefs and characteristics of co-partisans. When the two opposing groups met, they did not try to persuade or reach a compromise on particular issues, but focused on generating understanding and tolerance of the other side and the motivations and experiences behind their beliefs.

According to the study, the workshops helped reduce both subtle and open signs of political division, by both Democrats and Republicans. Participants were also more willing to support depolarization efforts, such as donating to programs that encourage constructive political conversations among young Americans. While the immediate effects on reducing division faded somewhat over time, participants’ willingness to support depolarization efforts remained strong even after six months, according to the study.

While other methods aim to get groups to work together on shared goals or reach agreements on specific issues, Gamboa said “reciprocal group reflection” doesn’t try to make people cooperate or compromise. Instead, it focuses on improving understanding and communication, which are important for better discussions and decision making.

“Unlike similar interventions, these workshops combine strategies proven to reduce political divisions, like sharing information about the beliefs and policies of people from the other side with activities designed to build empathy and understanding, based on ideas from social psychology,” Gamboa said.

The findings, Gamboa said, illustrate the effectiveness of depolarization when it combines both informational and emotional elements, helping to bridge divides and laying the groundwork for a healthier democracy.

Gamboa’s co-authors include Hannah Baron, Tulane University; Robert Blair and Donghyun Danny Choi, both from Brown University; Jessica Gottlieb, University of Houston; Amanda Lea Robinson, Ohio State University; Steven C. Rosenzweig, Boston University; Megan M. Turnbull, University of Georgia; and Emily A. West, University of Pittsburgh.

Originally published by April Toler at keough.nd.edu on Jan. 29.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Protective actions need regulatory support to fully defend homeowners and coastal communities, study finds

2025-01-15T16:00:44-05:00

As climate change drives increasingly severe hurricanes, U.S. coastal communities are bearing the brunt of mounting losses. With regulations failing to curb the damage, homeowners have become the front line of defense — but their efforts often fall short, a recent study reveals.

Led by Tracy Kijewski-Correa, professor of engineering and global affairs at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, the study, published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, explored how homeowners respond in the aftermath of hurricanes when reconstruction becomes necessary. Focusing on Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana — a community still recovering from a sequence of disasters beginning with Hurricane Laura — the research introduced a new methodology to document homeowner actions, the damage they experienced and their recovery paths.

Why homeowners are key to reducing losses

“With no mandates to upgrade at-risk homes, homeowners will be responsible for adapting their properties to halt mounting climate-driven losses in the housing sector,” said Kijewski-Correa, who also serves as the director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development at the Keough 91��Ƶ. “Unfortunately, we have no idea what decisions households are making and why — this study created a methodology to answer those questions so we can better incentivize them to adapt before the next storm.”

Since 1980, U.S. losses from tropical cyclones have reached $1.3 trillion, exposing how underprepared the country remains in addressing weather and climate disasters. This growing vulnerability is compounded by rapid population growth in coastal areas and outdated or inconsistent building codes.

Gaps in protection and future risks

Using indices developed for the study, researchers measured protection levels for a number of critical home components at key points: at the time of purchase, pre-disaster and after post-disaster repairs, as well as future intended upgrades.

The study found that, on average, homeowners took proactive steps to protect their properties before the hurricane, enhanced those protections after the storm and expressed intentions to continue investing in resilience. Roofs, windows and other external components were the primary focus of these improvements. However, the typical home achieved only about half the measures needed to withstand future storms effectively.

Visible damage in neighborhoods and the experiences of family and friends also influenced voluntary homeowner decisions to invest in protective measures. Motivated by observing widespread destruction across the community, even homeowners who escaped damage in Hurricane Laura expressed intentions to invest in resilience.

Policy and incentives: closing the protection gap

“Homeowners are making efforts to ‘build back better’ — strengthening roofs, adding hurricane clips or straps and replacing standard windows with impact-rated alternatives,” said Kijewski-Correa. “Unfortunately, most investments still leave homes only moderately protected against future hurricanes.”

The study’s methodology, which includes a flexible survey tool and evaluation methods to analyze homeowner decisions, provides a framework for future research. Next steps include identifying the factors that most effectively motivate homeowners to adopt comprehensive protections.

“Policies need to incentivize comprehensive, whole-house upgrades while ensuring clear messaging about the importance of these measures,” Kijewski-Correa said. “We also need to address barriers such as affordability and awareness, which often prevent households from taking action.”

Study co-authors include civil engineering Ph.D. student Rachel Hamburger and Debra Javeline, professor of political science, both from the University of Notre Dame. The research is funded through a National Science Foundation grant under the Strengthening American Infrastructure program.

Originally published by April Toler at keough.nd.edu on Jan. 15.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Former Irish prime minister to speak at Notre Dame

2024-09-09T10:43:00-04:00

Leo Varadkar, former prime minister of Ireland and current member of parliament in Dáil Eireann, will join the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish 91��Ƶ, part of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, for a public discussion of Irish current affairs including public health initiatives, civic life and the political future of the island of Ireland.

“A Conversation with Deputy Leo Varadkar” will take place from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 20 (Friday) in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium on the University of Notre Dame Campus. Colin Barr, professor of modern Irish history and director of the Clingen Family Center for Study of Modern Ireland, will moderate the discussion. The event is free and open to the public.

Varadkar’s visit is part of the Keough-Naughton Institute’s mission as a multidisciplinary and global research hub bringing Ireland to Notre Dame, Notre Dame to Ireland and Ireland to the world. The institute hosts programs and events that draw on public policy to enrich the community’s understanding of Ireland's peoples and cultures, and to highlight how Ireland’s uniqueness speaks to the universal human experience.

“The Keough-Naughton Institute is delighted to welcome Deputy Leo Varadkar to the University of Notre Dame and to the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs,” said Patrick Griffin, the Thomas Moore and Judy Livingston Director of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish 91��Ƶ. “Deputy Varadkar's visit reflects our commitment to supporting research and education related to Ireland and the Irish. Specifically, this visit will help bring to Notre Dame some of the insights and conversation generated by ARINS, our signature project in collaboration with the Royal Irish Academy that supports independent research on the island's constitutional, institutional and political future.”

Varadkar was Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland from 2017 to 2020, and again from 2022 to 2024. He served in the cabinet for 13 years at the Ministries of Transport; Tourism and Sport; Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Social Protection and Health. He is currently Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency of the Irish parliament and a member of Ireland's Council of State.

As prime minister, Varadkar helped guide the country through the COVID-19 pandemic with public health and economic responses that were internationally recognized for their efficacy. He led Ireland through Brexit, prevented a hard border from forming between Ireland and Northern Ireland, upheld the Good Friday Agreement and maintained Ireland's place at the heart of the European Union and its single market. A strong supporter of Irish unification, Varadkar allocated more than €1 billion to North-South projects under the Shared Island Fund and helped the power-sharing institutions of the Good Friday Agreement resume operations.

Although Varadkar has interacted before with Notre Dame faculty and students in Ireland and through a 2012 Notre Dame versus Navy football game played in Dublin, this is the first time he will be visiting the South Bend campus.

“I am looking forward to visiting the University of Notre Dame, an institution which is a bridge between Ireland and America,” Varadkar said. “I am particularly interested in the research the Keough-Naughton Institute is partnering on the future of the island, and I look forward to discussing that and how the relationship between Ireland and the United States can develop in a time of great change in our world.”

Originally published by April Toler at irishstudies.nd.edu on Sept. 9.

AI can alert urban planners and policymakers to cities’ decay

2023-10-26T09:00:00-04:00

More than two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050, according to the United Nations. As urbanization advances around the globe, researchers at the University of Notre Dame and Stanford University said the quality of the urban physical environment will become increasingly critical to human well-being and to sustainable development initiatives.

However, measuring and tracking the quality of an urban environment, its evolution and its spatial disparities is difficult due to the amount of on-the-ground data needed to capture these patterns. To address the issue, Yong Suk Lee, assistant professor of technology, economy and global affairs in the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, and Andrea Vallebueno from Stanford University used machine learning to develop a scalable method to measure urban decay at a spatially granular level over time.

Their findings were recently published in Scientific Reports.

“As the world urbanizes, urban planners and policymakers need to make sure urban design and policies adequately address critical issues such as infrastructure and transportation improvements, poverty and the health and safety of urbanites, as well as the increasing inequality within and across cities,” Lee said. “Using machine learning to recognize patterns of neighborhood development and urban inequality, we can help urban planners and policymakers better understand the deterioration of urban space and its importance in future planning.”

Traditionally, the measurement of urban quality and quality of life in urban spaces has used sociodemographic and economic characteristics such as crime rates and income levels, survey data of urbanites’ perception and valued attributes of the urban environment, or image datasets describing the urban space and its socioeconomic qualities. The growing availability of street view images presents new prospects in identifying urban features, Lee said, but the reliability and consistency of these methods across different locations and time remains largely unexplored.

In their study, Lee and Vallebueno used the YOLOv5 model (a form of artificial intelligence that can detect objects) to detect eight object classes that indicate urban decay or contribute to an unsightly urban space — things like potholes, graffiti, garbage, tents, barred or broken windows, discolored or dilapidated façades, weeds and utility markings. They focused on three cities: San Francisco, Mexico City and South Bend, Indiana. They chose neighborhoods in these cities based on factors including urban diversity, stages of urban decay and the authors’ familiarity with the cities.

Using comparative data, they evaluated their method in three contexts: homelessness in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco between 2009 and 2021, a set of small-scale housing projects carried out in 2017 through 2019 in a subset of Mexico City neighborhoods, and the western neighborhoods of South Bend in the 2011 through 2019 period — a part of the city that had been declining for decades but also saw urban revival initiatives.

Researchers found that the trained model could adequately detect the objects it sought across different cities and neighborhoods, and did especially well where there are denser populations, such as San Francisco.

For instance, the maps allowed researchers to assess the temporal and geographic variation in homelessness in the San Francisco area, an issue that has grown over the years.

The model struggled in the more suburban area of South Bend, according to Lee, demonstrating a need to tweak the model and the types of objects identified in less dense populations. In addition, the researchers found there is still a risk for bias that should be addressed.

“Our findings indicate that trained models such as ours are capable of detecting the incidences of decay across different neighborhoods and cities, highlighting the potential of this approach to be scaled in order to track urban quality and change for urban centers across the U.S. and cities in other countries where street view imagery is available,” he said.

Lee said the model has potential to provide valuable information using data that can be collected in a more efficient way compared to using coarser, traditional economic data sources, and that it could be a valuable and timely tool for the government, nongovernmental organizations and the public.

“We found that our approach can employ machine learning to effectively track urban quality and change across multiple cities and urban areas,” Lee said. “This type of data could then be used to inform urban policy and planning and the social issues that are impacted by urbanization, including homelessness.”

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Originally published by April Toler at keough.nd.edu on Oct. 19.