conflict | SPSP

How Feeling Understood Can Help Us Trust People with Whom We Disagree

In a world of growing political, economic, and ethnic tension, feeling understood by the members of groups to which we don’t belong may be the key to a way forward.

Read more about How Feeling Understood Can Help Us Trust People with Whom We Disagree

When You Write an Online Review about a Product, Should You Tell a Story or Just Present the Facts?

Young woman looking at laptop screen with perplexed expression

Reviews written as personal stories make readers more aware of the pros and cons of the product than reviews framed as facts.

Read more about When You Write an Online Review about a Product, Should You Tell a Story or Just Present the Facts?

Keeping Score in a Relationship is a Recipe for Conflict and Dissatisfaction

Black man arguing with woman, standing against wooden wall with folded arms, looking away with offended expression on her face

When people monitor their romantic relationship to see whether their partner reciprocates the nice things they do, conflicts have a greater impact on how close they feel to their partner.

Read more about Keeping Score in a Relationship is a Recipe for Conflict and Dissatisfaction

COVID-19 and a Hope for Unity

Could COVID-19 be like the extra-terrestrials in alien-invasion movies—a precursor of hope?

Read more about COVID-19 and a Hope for Unity

How a Disagreement from 16 Years Ago Can Affect Your Health Today

Older woman with a very sad expression isolated on black

Although marriage often enhances people’s health, how and when partners argue with their spouses can have negative health consequences.

Read more about How a Disagreement from 16 Years Ago Can Affect Your Health Today

How the Political Primary Season Creates Psychological Tribes

Illustration of two groups of people engaged in a tug of war

What the number of dots on a screen, your taste in abstract art, and a boys’ summer camp can tell us about party division and unity.

Read more about How the Political Primary Season Creates Psychological Tribes

Do Protest Songs Actually Affect People’s Attitudes about War and Peace?

Young man singing before crowd of people

When it comes to promoting peace, which works better: “Give peace a chance” or “War, what is it good for?”

Read more about Do Protest Songs Actually Affect People’s Attitudes about War and Peace?

My Enemy’s Enemy is My Friend—Common Enemies Blur Lines between Groups in Conflict

What Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, and an imaginary alien invasion can teach us about human nature.

Read more about My Enemy’s Enemy is My Friend—Common Enemies Blur Lines between Groups in Conflict

Hostile Reactions to Criticism from Members of Opposing Groups

Two groups of stick figures shouting at each other

What Thanksgiving with strangers can tell us about group processes.

Read more about Hostile Reactions to Criticism from Members of Opposing Groups

A Little Perspective Goes a Long Way: Perspective Takers Are Liked More than Non-Perspective Takers

A woman looks across a telescope in front of a glass building

It may come as no surprise that political polarization is on the rise; liberals are becoming more liberal, and conservatives are becoming more conservative. This is more than simple disagreement; political polarization involves an extreme commitment to one’s ideology and an unwillingness to consider other viewpoints. According to Kristin Laurin from the University of British Columbia, we need to be willing to take the perspective of people with opposing views in order to combat political polarization. But how do people perceive those who engage in such perspective taking?

Read more about A Little Perspective Goes a Long Way: Perspective Takers Are Liked More than Non-Perspective Takers