Researchers led a study in which they surveyed people on their views about a controversial topic, in this case, physician-assisted suicide. Participants then randomly red either a personal testimonial or informative article on the topic, also randomly assigned as either pro or con regarding the issue. Those who read a testimonial opposed to their original viewpoint showed to be the most open to considering the views of those different than theirs in post surveys. The results shows testimonials featuring peoples’ lived-experience can be an effective way for communicators to reach people on controversial, yet important topics, and can be effective for those without large communications budgets.
