Barry Ritholtz, Columnist

How to Keep Your Thanksgiving Dinner Civil

Some tips from behavioral economics to help you have an actual discussion rather than a shouting match, even on politics.

November 20, 2018 at 12:30 PM UTC

By Barry Ritholtz

Barry Ritholtz is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is chairman and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and was previously chief market strategist at Maxim Group. He is the author of “Bailout Nation.”

Will they make it to dessert?
Photographer: Lambert/Archive Photos/Getty Images

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If your family is anything like mine, there will be lots of arguments over Thanksgiving dinner. Here are some timely insights from behavioral economics that will make it easier to debate family members1 — even on politics — and might help save your holidays.

Start by recognizing the difficulty of changing a person’s mind. Improve the odds by understanding how people, regardless of ideology, create their own subjective model of the universe. Then follow these steps: