TRP Research Library

Selected academic sources that directly support the 138 Method. Each source maps to the target, dynamics, or principles.

Identity-Belief Fusion (The Target)

Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press. Amazon — Foundational theory on why contradictory information creates psychological discomfort and resistance.

Festinger, L., & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58(2), 203-211. DOI — Classic experiment demonstrating how beliefs shift to reduce dissonance.

Kunda, Z. (1990). The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin, 108(3), 480-498. DOI — Seminal paper (9,000+ citations) on why people reason toward conclusions they want to reach.

Taber, C. S., & Lodge, M. (2006). Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs. American Journal of Political Science, 50(3), 755-769. DOI — Demonstrates how political identity shapes evidence evaluation.

Nickerson, R. S. (1998). Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises. Review of General Psychology, 2(2), 175-220. DOI — Comprehensive review of how people seek information that confirms existing beliefs.

Dynamic 1: The Outrage Machine

Hobolt, S. B., et al. (2024). The Polarizing Effect of Partisan Echo Chambers. American Political Science Review, 118. DOI — Current research on how online environments amplify polarization.

Reuters Institute. (2023). Echo chambers, filter bubbles, and polarisation: a literature review. Open Access — Comprehensive review of platform dynamics and belief reinforcement.

Dai, Y., et al. (2021). Social media and attitude change: Information booming promote or resist persuasion? Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 596071. DOI — How social media environments affect openness to persuasion.

Dynamic 2: Identity Defense Bypass

Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124-1131. DOI — Nobel Prize research on how intuitive thinking differs from analytical reasoning.

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Amazon — System 1/System 2 framework explaining why questions bypass defensive reactions.

Evans, J. St. B. T., & Stanovich, K. E. (2013). Dual-process theories of higher cognition: Advancing the debate. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(3), 223-241. DOI — Comprehensive review of dual-process theory underlying TRP's approach.

Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. In Communication and Persuasion. Springer. DOI — Foundational model explaining central vs. peripheral routes to attitude change.

Wood, W. (2000). Attitude change: Persuasion and social influence. Annual Review of Psychology, 51(1), 539-570. DOI — Review of what actually changes attitudes.

Dynamic 3: Cognitive Shift

Gross, J. J. (2002). Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology, 39(3), 281-291. DOI — How emotional regulation affects reasoning capacity.

Sokol-Hessner, P., et al. (2009). Thinking like a trader selectively reduces individuals' loss aversion. PNAS, 106(13), 5035-5040. DOI — Demonstrates how reframing shifts cognitive processing.

Socratic Method (Core Technique)

Farnsworth, W. (2021). The Socratic Method: A Practitioner's Handbook. David R. Godine. Amazon — Primary inspiration for TRP methodology. Essential reading.

Vlastos, G. (1991). Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher. Cambridge University Press. Amazon — Scholarly analysis of Socratic questioning techniques.

Ho, Y.R., et al. (2023). Thinking more wisely: Using the Socratic method to develop critical thinking skills amongst healthcare students. BMC Medical Education, 23, 173. DOI — Modern research validating Socratic questioning effectiveness.

Tofade, T., et al. (2013). Best practice strategies for effective use of questions as a teaching tool. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 77(7), 155. DOI — Evidence-based questioning strategies.

Motivational Interviewing (Resistance Reduction)

Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2012). Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change (3rd ed.). Guilford Press. Amazon — Techniques for reducing resistance through questions rather than confrontation.

Misinformation Correction (What Actually Works)

Nyhan, B., et al. (2021). The global effectiveness of fact-checking: Evidence from simultaneous experiments in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. PNAS, 118. DOI — Large-scale evidence on effective correction strategies.

van Erkel, P., et al. (2024). When are Fact-Checks Effective? An Experimental Study. Mass Communication and Society. DOI — Current research on correction effectiveness.

Carnegie Endowment. (2024). Countering Disinformation Effectively: An Evidence-Based Policy Guide. Open Access — Practical evidence-based strategies.

Critical Thinking Foundations

Wason, P. C. (1960). On the failure to eliminate hypotheses in a conceptual task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12(3), 129-140. DOI — Original confirmation bias research (2-4-6 task).

Facione, P. A. (1990). Critical thinking: A statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. American Philosophical Association. ERIC — Delphi consensus on critical thinking definition and components.

Supporting Theory

Cooper, J. (2019). Cognitive dissonance: Where we've been and where we're going. International Review of Social Psychology, 32(1), 1-11. DOI — Contemporary review updating dissonance theory.

Harmon-Jones, E., & Mills, J. (Eds.). (2019). Cognitive dissonance: Reexamining a pivotal theory in psychology (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. Amazon — Current state of dissonance research.

Summary

27 sources organized by how they support the 138 Method:

  • The Target (Identity-Belief Fusion): 5 sources
  • Dynamic 1 (The Outrage Machine): 3 sources
  • Dynamic 2 (Identity Defense Bypass): 5 sources
  • Dynamic 3 (Cognitive Shift): 2 sources
  • Socratic Method: 4 sources
  • Motivational Interviewing: 1 source
  • Misinformation Correction: 3 sources
  • Critical Thinking: 2 sources
  • Supporting Theory: 2 sources

This library focuses on peer-reviewed research that directly supports TRP methodology. For recommended books, see the [Books page].