Expert Offers Advice to Avoid Political Clashes on Holidays

A Newsday article features expert advice on how people can survive this Thanksgiving and other upcoming holidays without fighting with family, friends, and others whose political viewpoints clash with their own. Among the experts offering advice is Robert Alexander, Ph.D., a cognitive neuroscientist and assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and Counseling, who advised against fact-checking friends or relatives, which he said makes for an uncomfortable situation—especially with more people eschewing traditional sources of information. 

“You’re generally unlikely to sway someone away from their values at Thanksgiving dinner,” he says. “So you can save that conversation for another time and try to bring things back to a more neutral place.”