Finally, bridges should be tested. Gordon Allport’s Contact Hypothesis (1954) shows that structured, equal-status contact reduces prejudice; narratives that set the conditions for such contact are scaffold, not spectacle. Field experiments by Broockman and Kalla (2016) found that brief, nonjudgmental conversations reduced transphobia weeks later, suggesting that story-driven dialogue changes attitudes. Track outcomes—cross-cutting friendships, trust indices, collaborative projects—and keep choosing the words that make those numbers move. [...]
