The polarization of political discourse has seemed unstoppable in recent years, with this playing a significant role in the declining fortunes of democracy across the developed world.  In America, as indeed elsewhere, there have been concerns that this widening chasm is threatening the health of democracy itself.

Attempts to limit this polarization have thus far been minimal, but new research from the University of Missouri has entered the debate with a suggestion based around narrative writing exercises, which the researchers believe could reduce our political polarization.

“When people become politically polarized, they are unable to understand the people who are politically different from them, so they tend to make up reasons for why they are in disagreement,” the researchers say. “It’s rooted in a belief that similarly minded people are motivated by benevolence, while those from the other group are motivated by malevolence. When that happens, the stakes of winning and losing in politics are too high, and it becomes impossible for people to cooperate with others who are politically opposite. This belief system can also lead to negative thoughts about democracy as a viable form of government.”

Overcoming entrenchment

The researchers highlight how political socialization often occurs in our formative years, between 16 and 222.  This is the time to ideally reach people and influence their subsequent mindset.

To test this theory, 179 university students completed a survey to self-report on their political beliefs.  This information was then used to create a scenario whereby the student stumbles upon a Twitter profile of a classmate.  They read a handful of their tweets, and discovers that their peer has very different political views to them.

Each student was asked to rate the level of angst they felt towards the author of these tweets, before then being assigned to one of three narrative writing exercises:

• First-person perspective-taking: Describe a scene in which this hypothetical classmate was assigned to deliver a class presentation on an issue they cared deeply about in their favorite class. Something goes wrong with the presentation, and their classmate has to work creatively to salvage the project in order to get an A and pass the class.
• Cooperative contract: Participants were asked to write about a non-political task in which they cooperated with the author of the tweets, such as creating recruitment materials for Mizzou.
• Control: Participants were instructed to write a story about themselves rather than the author of the tweets.

This was followed by each volunteer re-evaluating their level of angst towards the original author of the tweets.  The results showed that narrative writing appeared to reduce political polarization by giving people a different perspective on people, and helping to forge a common identity with them.

“First, it forces people to think like someone they do not agree with,” Warner said. “I think when people disagree with someone, they tend to think of them like a caricature image, or as a one-dimensional character. But, when someone has to write about that person, the character develops depth. So, by all of a sudden getting inside someone else’s head like that, it’s hard to develop that caricature image.”