Loss of societal cohesion and the erosion of trust in institutions and leaders are globally recurrent problems, linked to the way in which advertising and the media shape the news we consume and the ways in which this is exploited by populists, disrupters, and conspiracy theorists. Research at Oxford’s Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion sheds light on how our moral intuitions and group identities are implicated in these processes but also how they might provide a key to reversing their destructive effects. New research in the cognitive and evolutionary sciences is showing how our evolved psychology can be used not only negatively to deepen divisions and undermine trust but also more positively to solve the greatest cooperation problems facing humanity today: from preventing intergroup conflict to managing the environment more effectively and increasing the legitimacy of democratic institutions. ​