Non-Judgmental Listening and Story Sharing Can Durably Change Attitudes Around Contentious Issues
Ushering in a more just and inclusive America can seem like a daunting prospect in a time of heightened conflict and division. Polarization creates incentives for each camp to hunker down, look inward, and activate its in-group or base. The self-perpetuating and self-reinforcing nature of this oppositional cycle makes it hard to transcend and see another path forward. So too does the in-group policing that creates the pressure to stay in a silo of the like-minded rather than connecting with skeptics or those who hold conflicting or even opposing views.