As politics has become so intensely divided in recent years, there is a growing sense that we’re talking to people rather than with them, especially if our conversational partners are from a different ideological vantage point.
New research from Ohio State University suggests there may even be a racial component to this. The study was divided into two parts, the first of which involved several hundred adults, half of which were black, half of which were white. They were asked how much they agreed with four statements that were designed to measure their listening approach when engaged in political conversations.
The volunteers were also asked if they’d had any conversations about politics with people of a different race recently. The results reveal that blacks were slightly more likely to really listen to their partner than whites were when discussing politics, with this partly due to the fact that blacks were more likely to have cross-race discussions than whites.
“People who talked about politics with someone of the opposite race were more open to listening, and blacks were more likely to be in that category,” the researchers say.
Racial discussions
The second experiment directly focused on conversations around race to see if that changed matters. Again, several hundred volunteers were recruited, with equal representation for both blacks and whites, and also Republicans and Democrats.
Each volunteer was asked whether they identified with their own race, and with the opposite race. As the first experiment highlighted how few people actually converse with people from other races, the second experiment asked volunteers to imagine doing so, with the conversations covering hot topics such as the kneeling of black athletes during the national anthem or the flying of the Confederate flag by white people.
The participants were asked to imagine who might initiate the conversation, how long it might last, and what each side might say during the conversation. They were also asked whether it would be easy (or hard) to truly listen to their partner during the conversation.
The results suggest that the black volunteers would find it harder to truly listen to their white peers in this scenario, regardless of the topic being discussed. What’s more, it didn’t seem to matter whether the conversation was with a stranger, a friend, or a family member.
Suffice to say, the research doesn’t suggest why this might be so, but after scouring the research literature, the authors posit that direct experiences of racism may play a big part.
“Blacks often have had negative prior experiences talking about race-related issues. They’ve often encountered explicit racism or micro-aggressions that could lead them to put up defensive walls,” the researchers say. “They may want to avoid these conversations altogether.”
The one bright spot was that those who identified with the opposite race revealed they would find it easier to listen to people of a different race.
“That was one bright spot. It suggests that getting people to identify with the feelings and ideas of people from the opposite race could be one path to more cross-race listening,” the researchers continue.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was those who had had direct, real-life experience or connections with people of the opposite race who were most capable of listening, suggesting a clear benefit of multiculturalism within our communities in our bid to create greater understanding between people.
“If there were more listening—and greater perception that other people would listen to us—we might not have the degree of partisan polarization we currently have,” the authors conclude. “It is important to find ways to encourage people to listen.”
