Metacognitive training for Republicans leaners to reduce cognitive and affective polarization

Metacognitive training for Republicans leaners to reduce cognitive and affective polarization - MCT-REP_DEPOL

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00033087

Enrollment

2000

Registered

2023-12-08

Start date

2023-12-09

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-04-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

cognitive and affective polarisation

Interventions

Group 1: Condition 1: Metacognitive training The MKT condition consists of 15 questions that were constructed specifically for this study and deal with current issues in US politics. These contain the

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: US Citizen, Republican Leaner

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Democrat leaner

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Immediately after the experimental induction (MCT-condition vs. Education-condition vs. No Treatment condition), the study examines whether metacognitive training can reduce the affective and cognitive polarization of Republican supporters towards postmodern-liberal Democrats and other groups. For this purpose, the dependent variables "Evaluation of Democrats", "Perception of threat from Democrats and other postmodern-liberal groups", "Stereotypes towards Democrats and other postmodern-liberal groups" and "(Negative) feelings towards Democrats and other postmodern-liberal groups" as well as "Anti-democratic attitudes" are examined. The experimental design is a randomized controlled 3-group (MKT vs. education vs. no-treatment) between-subjects design. Among others, the following scales will be used: Feeling Thermometer (Henry&Sears, 2002), Political Intolerance Scale (Dunwoody&Funke, 2016)	—

Measure

Time frame

Immediately after the experimental induction (MCT-condition vs. Education-condition vs. No Treatment condition), the study examines whether metacognitive training can reduce the affective and cognitive polarization of Republican supporters towards postmodern-liberal Democrats and other groups. For this purpose, the dependent variables "Evaluation of Democrats", "Perception of threat from Democrats and other postmodern-liberal groups", "Stereotypes towards Democrats and other postmodern-liberal groups" and "(Negative) feelings towards Democrats and other postmodern-liberal groups" as well as "Anti-democratic attitudes" are examined. The experimental design is a randomized controlled 3-group (MKT vs. education vs. no-treatment) between-subjects design. Among others, the following scales will be used: Feeling Thermometer (Henry&Sears, 2002), Political Intolerance Scale (Dunwoody&Funke, 2016)

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
There is no secondary end point	—

Countries

United States

Contacts

Public ContactKlaus Michael Reininger

UKE

m.reininger@uke.uni-hamburg.de+4940741052975

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026