Stanford
SPARQ

Relationships

The SPARQ Solutions Catalog is an online library of scientifically tested fixes to a wide variety of social issues and conflicts.

Easily searchable and practitioner-focused, it provides a curated set of evidence-based behavioral nudges in education, health, law & justice, peace & conflict, relationships, parenting, and the environment.

Civil Society Conflict Resolution Criminal Justice Economic Development Education Environment  Health Parenting Relationships

Lessen Prejudice With Teamwork

 

Problem: People from different social groups tend to fear and mistrust one another.

Solution: Teaming up as equals and collaborating towards a common goal reduces prejudice between people with different backgrounds.

To Reduce Political Tensions, Focus on Facts

couple holding hands

Problem: Negative emotions feed intolerance, which can harm relations between groups.

Solution: Taking a detached perspective dampens bad feelings and increases tolerance for the other side.

Conflict Resolution, Relationships

To Help Groups Like Each Other, Combine Them

Mixed-race women's volleyball team

Problem: People from different cultural groups often dislike and discriminate against one another.

Solution: When people from different social groups think of each other as belonging to one larger group, they like each other more.

Bias, Civil Society, Relationships

Moral Quotes Keep Workplaces Ethical

Two people in suits riding up escalator

Problem: People sometimes lie to get ahead.

Solution: Adding moral quotes to e-mail signatures primes recipients to act more honestly.

Civil Society, Relationships

To Succeed at Your Job, Process Emotions

Tip jar at a bar
 

Problem: Employees in the service industry often feel emotionally drained.

Solution: Emotional management techniques and diary-writing improve employee performance on the job and lead to better tips from customers.

Relationships

Slash Suspensions With Empathy

Teacher sitting in front of classroom full of students

Problem: School suspensions set students up to enter the school-to-prison pipeline, leading to unemployment and incarceration later in life (Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology).

Solution: Taking an empathetic, rather than punitive, approach to classroom discipline reduces suspensions and improves student-teacher relationships. 

Making Friends Across Racial Lines Lowers Prejudice

Two smiling friends

Problem: We are often uneasy around people of other races.

Solution: Befriending just one person of a different race lowers anxiety and prejudice and makes it easier to cross racial boundaries in the future.

Civil Society, Conflict Resolution, Relationships

Taking Compliments to Heart Strengthens Love

A couple holding hands in front of a sunset

Problem: People with low self-esteem feel less love from their partners and have more trouble in relationships.   

Solution: Teaching people with low self-esteem to interpret their partner’s compliments as deep and enduring, rather than as shallow and fleeting, helps them feel loved and act better in their relationships.

Relationships

Caring Letters Prevent Suicide

Letter that reads: "Dear Hohn, It has been some time since you were here at the hospital, and we hope...

Problem: Suicide is a leading cause of death, and it is notoriously difficult to prevent.

Solution: Regularly receiving letters from a caring person helps people at risk for committing suicide feel connected and stay alive.

Health, Relationships

Save Your Marriage, One Argument at a Time

A couple arguing in a park

Problem: People usually become less satisfied with their marriages over time. And the unhappier the marriage, the unhealthier the spouses.

Solution: When spouses imagine what a neutral third party would think during their fights, they protect their love and commitment.

Relationships