Politics and Social Change Lab

🚨New WP!🚨

Structured AI Dialogues Can Increase Happiness and Meaning in Life

In a preregistered RCT, four psychology-grounded #AI chatbots improved well-being across several outcomes.

Co-authors: Jonas Schoene, Johannes Eichstaedt, Aadesh Salecha, Sonja Lyubomirsky

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Paper: osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF/prereg: osf.io/g59fm/
All chatbots linked above!

Major kudos to brilliant post-doc Jonas Schoene, who led this project!

Thanks to co-authors: Johannes Eichstaedt,, Aadesh Salecha, Sonja Lyubomirsky

And to: @stanfordhai.bsky.social, @stanfordpacs.bsky.social, @pascl-stanford.bsky.social, @uclaanderson.bsky.social

We find high public interest in using validated well-being chatbots.

In a nationally rep survey (N=3,056), about 1/2 of U.S. adults said they’d use empirically validated well-being chatbots. About 1/4 have already used #generativeAI chatbots for well-being.

Importantly, results generalized to key subpopulations, including those with high baseline levels of anxiety or depressed mood.

Linguistic analyses showed users had diff conversations with each chatbot:

Savoring → Sensory perceptions & positive emotions
Gratitude → Social interactions & positive emotions
Meaning → Reflection on others & cognitive processes
Hero’s journey → Achievement & cognitive processes

Does use tradeoff with human therapy?
Maybe, though initial evidence against: conversations increased willingness to try well-being chatbots again and to seek human therapy, even among those previously reluctant.

RESULTS: All four chatbots…

⚡️Improved happiness, life satisfaction, and meaning,
⚡️Reduced anxiety and depressed mood, relative to control.

Effect sizes exceed or match those from traditional positive psych interventions in @dunnhappylab.bsky.social recent meta-analysis.

#4: The Hero’s Journey Chatbot

Guides the user to reframe their life story in terms of the archetypal Hero’s Journey, highlighting challenges, strengths, and next steps (h/t Ben Rogers, @kurtjgray.bsky.social, Herrison Chicas)

👉 herobot.cpwbinterventions.xyz/readme

#3: The Meaning Chatbot

Prompts the user to reflect on what gives their life purpose, such as people, activities, and beliefs that are meaningful to them.

👉 cpwbinterventions.xyz/readme

#2: The Gratitude Chatbot

Guides user through a short exercise to express gratitude to a specific person. Encourages the user to notice others’ contributions and articulate what they appreciate.

👉 gratitudebot.cpwbinterventions.xyz/readme

#1: The Savoring Chatbot

Guides user to slow down and reflect on a positive moment from their life in detail, e.g., associated sensations, thoughts, and meaning.

👉 savoringbot.cpwbinterventions.xyz/readme

In a preregistered, randomized experiment (N=2,922), we tested whether four different AI chatbots could improve happiness and feelings of meaning in life.

Millions use #GenerativeAI chatbots for emotional support, yet little research re: whether AI dialogues can improve psychological well-being

We test whether brief, structured dialogues grounded in psych research can reliably help

WP👉 osf.io/preprints/ps...

We were fortunate to work with Governor Spencer Cox
and the @natlgovsassoc.bsky.social on a field experiment testing the #DisagreeBetter ads. We find politicians advocating for civil discourse increase viewers' openness to those they disagree with politically. Learn more👇

bsky.app/profile/robb...

Meet the Lawmakers Trying to Bring Civility Back to Politics In a growing movement, state legislators in Minnesota, Arkansas, Kansas and beyond are taking on America’s political rage. Opponents are “not the devil.”

Very cool to see @robbwiller.bsky.social quoted in the
@wsj.com talking about our work (led by
@chagaiweiss.bsky.social) testing the effects testing the #DisagreeBetter ads: www.wsj.com/politics/min...

9/28/2025: A Lonely Voice; The Mystery of the Eagle S; Dana White First, a message from Utah Gov. Cox after the Charlie Kirk murder. Then, a report on undersea cable cutting in the Baltic Sea. And, UFC head Dana White: The 60 Minutes Interview.

Last night's @60minutes.bsky.social with
Governor Spencer Cox offers a great chance to learn about the #DisagreeBetter campaign, an effort to encourage respectful and constructive political disagreement: www.cbsnews.com/video/928202...

Kudos to all the many folks who led the project, Jan Voelkel, Nick Stagnaro, James Chu, @dgrand.bsky.social, Jamie D. and the many, many others who contributed (e.g., @civichealthproject.bsky.social)

Learn more about the challenge! 👇

www.strengtheningdemocracychallenge.org

PBS News Hour | Understanding America's partisan divide and how to fix it | Season 2023 What’s driving America's partisan divide and what might be done to reverse it

This discussion between @robbwiller.bsky.social and Judy Woodruff on @pbsnews.org News Hour provides an overview of the Strengthening Democracy Challenge:

www.pbs.org/video/americ...

Our lab partnered Gov Cox & @natlgovsassoc.bsky.social to test their Disagree Better initiative. Their PSAs showed positive impacts in our field experiment (w/ @chagaiweiss.bsky.social & Don Green).

Results: osf.io/preprints/os...

Summary: youtu.be/1hcqJ5g23l8?...

Many wise insights from Gov Spencer Cox & @ezraklein.bsky.social Gov Cox rightly notes his 2020 video w Chris Peterson was among most impactful in Strengthening Democracy Challenge, a striking example of cross-party engagement.

Grateful for their commitment. Hear it: 👇

youtu.be/WJB87niNCk0

It is great to see Gov Spencer Cox stepping up to turn the temperature down and focus ppl on grieving the tragic killing of Charlie Kirk. Gov Cox has long promoted civility across party lines. Our research finds that his messages are persuasive when Americans see it.

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Does labeling AI content affect its persuasiveness? Our latest policy brief evaluates the impact of authorship labels on how people perceive AI-written policy messages. @jurafsky.bsky.social @robbwiller.bsky.social @federicobianchi.bsky.social

hai.stanford.edu/policy/label...

Win Hearts, Then Minds + Your Questions Answered on Identity and "Covering" - Hidden Brain Media This week, we bring you a favorite episode with sociologist Robb Willer. We discuss the common mistakes we make in trying to persuade others of our point of view — and how to break out of our echo cha...

We live in a world that feels more divided than ever. This week, we revisit an episode with sociologist Robb Willer and discuss how to bridge even the greatest divides. hiddenbrain.org/podcast/us-2...

Fantastic piece from @robbwiller.bsky.social and @owasow.bsky.social on nonviolent resistance published in the @nytimes.com. Bravo!

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/o...

Congratulations to lab alumn @maxhuibai.bsky.social on the release of his academic party game, Publish or Perish! Very excited to have received our copies in the mail – thanks, Max!

You can check out Max's game here 👇
publishorperish.games

Thank you to @jonnekamphorst.bsky.social and David Broska for an engaging presentation on their work on support for predistributive and redistributive policies! @robbwiller.bsky.social @stanfordpacs.bsky.social

Big thanks to Ariel Malka for a fascinating presentation in the lab this week on how cultural and economic ideologies shape anti-democratic sentiment across partisan lines! @robbwiller.bsky.social @stanfordpacs.bsky.social

Compelling evidence in this new WP that AI can do "deep canvassing" and durably reduce prejudice and change policy attitudes. Very cool stuff from @tomcostello.bsky.social @gordpennycook.bsky.social @robbwiller.bsky.social @dgrand.bsky.social

Very cool to see this research developed into a policy brief! Impactful work from a superstar team: @joon-s-pk.bsky.social
@cqzou.bsky.social ‬ @aaronshaw.bsky.social @mako.cc Carrie Cai, Meredith Ringel Morris, @robbwiller.bsky.social Percy Liang, @mbernst.bsky.social