“Cognitive distortions litter our political landscape. Americans of each party hold breathtakingly warped impressions of the other side.” — Jamil Zaki and Luiza Santos
Jamil Zaki Ph.D., a Stanford University psychology professor and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab, explores the role of empathy and understanding in reducing partisan divides. His lab’s research highlights the importance of bridging gaps between opposing political views, fostering productive conversations, and strengthening support for democratic values.
Recently, Zaki and fellow psychologist, Luiza Santos, wrote a piece for The Washington Post where they discussed these issues. Quotes from their piece are indented below.
According to Zaki and Santos, political partisans often suffer from cognitive distortions that lead to skewed perceptions of their opponents.
“Cognitive distortions litter our political landscape. Americans of each party hold breathtakingly warped impressions of the other side. In our study, we asked Republican and Democratic voters how much they supported anti-democratic practices — such as gerrymandering and the denial of election results — and how they thought an average supporter of the opposing party would feel about those same practices. Most people on each side support fair and free democracy but don’t realize their rivals do as well: Participants estimated that the other side was nearly twice as anti-democratic as they really are. In other research, both Democrats and Republicans estimate those of the other party to be more extreme, hateful, and violent than the reality.”
Zaki and Santos explain that, while violent extremists exist within both the political left and right, they are a tiny minority.
“In our lab, we’ve found that more than 80 percent of Americans regret the country’s division and wish for greater cooperation. Surveys show that Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly agree on key values such as voting rights, freedom of religion, and policies like facilitating immigration for skilled workers, upholding Medicare, and tightening gun laws.”
Despite shared values, many people don't believe this, leading to negative and hypocritical behavior.
“In our study, participants who believed that rivals would bend democratic rules for their own gain thought their own party should do the same. Why honor rules of engagement if the enemy won’t? Likewise, people who overestimate the other side’s hatred and violence grow more willing to hate and harm, as well.”
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Cognitive therapy as a solution
Zaki and Santos write that the best way to combat these destructive cognitive distortions is for people to meet and engage with those holding different beliefs, and to be shown data that corrects their misconceptions.
Research has shown that when people are shown the data and learn their political opponents overwhelmingly prefer peace over violence, hostility is significantly reduced. When, through dialogue between political opponents, people learn about each other's personal stories and the reasoning behind their beliefs, they are more likely to understand one another and become more committed to cooperation and upholding peace and democracy.
Zaki has written that empathy plays a crucial role in changing minds. He says that the best way to change the minds of opponents is to have and express empathy for them.
“Research offers hints about how to make these conversations productive. Good disagreers don’t hide their own perspective, but they also express genuine curiosity about others’ views and point out common ground when they see it. They share personal stories and ask about each other’s experiences. This type of exchange isn’t just nice, it’s powerful. In our work, we find that people who empathize during disagreement are better able to persuade others. If you want someone else to open their mind, a great place to start is opening yours first.”
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Counter those who promote partisan conflict and misinformation
By rejecting fear-driven and hyperbolic narratives, and by embracing empathy, people can foster better dialogue, reduce division, and potentially change minds.
Not only should you counter groups that promote conflict, including social media companies, partisan political groups, and news media, but you should also push back against your friends who promote hyperbole and other falsehoods about political opponents. It is important to show that the hyperbole does not match the data.
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References:
Empathizing with the opposition may make you more politically persuasive | ScienceDaily
Finding hope in a cynical world | Stanford Report
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Hard to have empathy for my friends who follow RFK. They tend to be the types who accuse the government of all sorts of nefarious programs, like "chem trails" and vaccine/mask advice. They would hold their narrow resentment as more important than the utterly vile and destructive character of Trump. They complain about fake news while proudly adopting the memes of even faker news.