… research on thousands of people around the world, summed up in something called Moral Foundations Theory […] …the values that the Moral Foundations Theory tells us are more important […] for liberals that’s “harm and fairness (e.g. benevolence, nurturance, equality, social justice),” and for conservatives, “group loyalty, authority, and purity (e.g., patriotism, traditionalism, strictness, religious sanctity).”
[…]“We tend to view our moral values as universal,” Feinberg told me. That “there are no other values but ours, and people who don’t share our values are simply immoral. Yet, in order to use moral reframing you need to recognize that the other side has different values, know what those values are, understand them well enough to be able to understand the moral perspective of the other side, and be willing to use those values as part of a political argument.”
Some people just can’t bring themselves to take that last step, he said, even if they know it’s more effective. And perhaps the reason it’s so difficult is because politics is so deeply intertwined with our personal values. When something is important to us, it’s usually for a reason, and it’s hard to break free of those reasons, even for political expediency’s sake. To do so would take an abundance of empathy, and that’s in short supply all around these days.
[…]Still, there’s one thing Feinberg said definitely won’t work. In the wake of the executive order, Feinberg said he saw lots of liberals lobbing ad-hominem attacks, such as “you’re being un-American” or “you’re making the Statue of Liberty cry.”
“People typically do not do well when attacked,” he said, “this could simply push them to be more staunch in their position.”
Source: The Atlantic (February 1, 2017)
Subjects: Articles & Links, Communication, Excerpts, Personal Improvement, Politics & Public Policy, Psychology | Behavior
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