We want to do an academic study of how the empathy circle, as developed by Edwin Rutsch, can help resolve polarization between democrats and republicans. Give me a plan on how to fund this study?
https://gemini.google.com/app/2124e316564f04fe
To fund this study effectively, you need a tiered strategy. You cannot go straight to a massive foundation (like Gates or Ford) without a "proof of concept."
Here is a realistic, step-by-stepfunding plan designed to get you from $0 to the ~$20k–$50k needed for a high-quality RCT.
Goal: Fund the pilot study (N=20) to prove feasibility and get preliminary data.
1. University Internal Grants
Action: If you or your collaborators are affiliated with a university, search specifically for "Dean’s Research Fund," "Provost’s Seed Grant," or "Diversity & Inclusion Research Grants."
The Pitch: Frame this as a "campus climate" intervention that can be scaled to help students discuss difficult topics. Universities are desperate for tools to handle campus polarization.
2. American Psychological Association (APA) / APF Small Grants
Opportunity: APF Visionary Grants or APA Early Career Grants.
Deadline: Typically annually (Visionary Grants often due ~April).
Focus: They specifically fund "psychology to solve social problems" including violence prevention and stigma reduction.
Amount: Up to $20,000 (but often smaller awards of $5k are easier to get).
Goal: Fund the full RCT (N=120), participant incentives, and research assistants.
1. The John Templeton Foundation
Specific Angle: "Intellectual Humility."
Why them? Templeton is the largest funder of research into "humility" and "open-mindedness."
Your Pitch: Do not just say "we are reducing anger." Say: "We are testing if the Empathy Circle protocol increases Intellectual Humility by forcing participants to cognitively process opposing viewpoints before responding."
2. The Hewlett Foundation (US Democracy Program)
Specific Angle: "Democratic Resilience" & "Polarization."
Why them? They have a massive program dedicated to strengthening US democracy and reducing polarization.
Your Pitch: Frame the study as testing a scalable civic infrastructure tool. "Can this be used by town councils and school boards to prevent deadlock?"
3. The Carnegie Corporation of New York
Specific Angle: "Social Cohesion."
Why them? They have a specific focus on "Strengthening U.S. Democracy" and "Bridging Divides."
Your Pitch: Focus on the "Contact Hypothesis"—testing how contact between opposing groups needs to be structured to work.
Platform: Experiment.com
This is a crowdfunding platform specifically for scientific research.
Strategy:
Title: "Can 15 minutes of listening stop Democrats and Republicans from hating each other?" (Make it catchy).
Video: Record a 2-minute demo of an Empathy Circle showing a visible shift in body language.
Reward: Backers get to see the raw data (anonymized) or get a free "How to Facilitate" guide.
Viral Hook: This topic is "hot" right now. If you pitch this to political blogs (both Left and Right) as "We are scientifically testing if we can get along," they may link to your campaign.
1. The Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI)
They research similar topics. Reach out to them for potential partnership or advisory support. They may help you recruit participants from their existing networks.
2. Bridge Alliance
This is a coalition of organizations working on depolarization.
Action: Join their network. They often have "micro-grants" or can blast your study recruitment link to their newsletters, saving you thousands in advertising costs.
[ ] Pilot: Apply for university seed funding immediately to run a tiny test (3 groups).
[ ] Data: Use that pilot data to create a chart showing "Potential for Impact."
[ ] Apply: Submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) to Templeton focusing on "Intellectual Humility."
[ ] Crowdfund: Launch an Experiment.com page to cover the cost of the $50 gift cards.
Next Step: Would you like me to draft the Letter of Inquiry (LOI) for the Templeton Foundation, specifically framing the Empathy Circle as an "Intellectual Humility" intervention?
Here is a draft Letter of Inquiry (LOI) tailored specifically for the John Templeton Foundation.
This draft leans heavily into their specific interest area: "Intellectual Humility." It frames the Empathy Circle not just as a "feel-good" exercise, but as a cognitive intervention that forces the brain to slow down and consider alternative viewpoints.
Subject: Letter of Inquiry: Testing Structured Dialogue as a Mechanism for Intellectual Humility in Political Conflict
To the Grant Committee at the John Templeton Foundation,
The Problem: The Cognitive Closure of Polarization
The United States is currently facing a crisis of "affective polarization." Research indicates that Democrats and Republicans do not just disagree on policy; they increasingly view one another as existential threats. This animosity creates a state of "cognitive closure," where individuals become incapable of processing opposing arguments, rendering traditional dialogue ineffective. While "contact hypothesis" suggests that bringing groups together should help, unstructured contact often backfires, deepening defensiveness rather than fostering understanding.
The Proposed Intervention: The Empathy Circle Protocol
We propose a rigorous Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to evaluate the Empathy Circle—a specific, highly structured dialogue modality—as a scalable intervention for increasing Intellectual Humility (IH).
Unlike open debates, the Empathy Circle mandates a "Reflective Listening" loop. Participants are strictly prohibited from responding to an argument until they have repeated the speaker’s points to the speaker’s satisfaction. We hypothesize that this structural constraint acts as a "cognitive brake," disrupting the automatic "fight-or-flight" response and creating the psychological safety required for Intellectual Humility to emerge.
Research Question & Methodology
Our study asks: Does the mandatory reflective listening inherent in the Empathy Circle protocol significantly increase state-level Intellectual Humility compared to unstructured intergroup contact?
We will conduct a 2x2 mixed-factorial design RCT with N=120 participants (paired Democrats and Republicans).
Treatment: 60-minute Empathy Circle session on a high-salience political topic.
Control: 60-minute unstructured "Town Hall" discussion on the same topic.
Measurement: We will utilize the Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale (Krumrei-Mancuso & Rouse) and Affective Polarization thermometers at pre-test, post-test, and 30-day follow-up.
Strategic Fit with the Templeton Foundation
This project directly addresses the Foundation’s commitment to understanding Intellectual Humility. We move beyond correlational studies of humility to test a causal mechanism. We are not merely asking "who is humble?" but "how can we engineer an environment that compels humility?"
If successful, this study would provide empirical validation for a low-cost, highly scalable civic tool that can be deployed in schools, municipalities, and religious communities to cultivate the open-mindedness essential for a flourishing society.
Funding Request
We are seeking a grant of $45,000 to cover participant recruitment, incentives, and data analysis over a 12-month period.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this proposal. We welcome the opportunity to submit a full proposal detailing our methodology and team qualifications.
Sincerely,
[Your Name/Title]
[Your University or Organization]
[Contact Information]
It speaks their language: It uses terms like "Cognitive Closure," "State-level Intellectual Humility," and "Causal Mechanism."
It avoids "Mushiness": It doesn't talk about "love" or "kindness." It frames empathy as a rigorous, structural constraint that changes how the brain processes information.
It defines a clear gap: It acknowledges that "contact" alone often fails (the "Backfire Effect"), positioning your study as the solution to that specific problem.
Now that you have the funding pitch, would you like me to create the "Pre-Test Survey" I mentioned earlier? This would be the actual document you give to participants to measure their "baseline" anger and humility before they enter the circle.