Bridging the (Brexit) divide: Effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization.
The European Union Brexit referendum has divided the British electorate, with high levels of animosity between those who affiliate with the Remain side (Remainers) and the Leave side (Leavers) of the debate. Previous research has shown that a brief befriending meditation reduces affective polarizati...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267493 |
| _version_ | 1818547156123910144 |
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| author | Otto Simonsson Simon B Goldberg Joseph Marks Liuxin Yan Jayanth Narayanan |
| author_facet | Otto Simonsson Simon B Goldberg Joseph Marks Liuxin Yan Jayanth Narayanan |
| author_sort | Otto Simonsson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The European Union Brexit referendum has divided the British electorate, with high levels of animosity between those who affiliate with the Remain side (Remainers) and the Leave side (Leavers) of the debate. Previous research has shown that a brief befriending meditation reduces affective polarization among Democrats and Republicans in the United States, but the results have not been replicated in a non-US sample and the psychological mechanisms underlying the effects have yet to be examined. The present study therefore used a post-test only randomized controlled design to investigate the effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization among Remainers and Leavers (n = 922). Results showed that participants in the befriending condition scored modestly lower on affective polarization than participants in the attentional control condition (t(921) = 2.17, p = .030, d = 0.14) and that perceived commonality with the political outgroup mediated the effects. In sum, audio-guided befriending practices may be a highly scalable means to reduce high levels of affective polarization through increasing perceived commonality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T08:02:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-39784ce597f34fb59eb16b6b02b96f91 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T08:02:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-39784ce597f34fb59eb16b6b02b96f912022-12-22T00:32:03ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01175e026749310.1371/journal.pone.0267493Bridging the (Brexit) divide: Effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization.Otto SimonssonSimon B GoldbergJoseph MarksLiuxin YanJayanth NarayananThe European Union Brexit referendum has divided the British electorate, with high levels of animosity between those who affiliate with the Remain side (Remainers) and the Leave side (Leavers) of the debate. Previous research has shown that a brief befriending meditation reduces affective polarization among Democrats and Republicans in the United States, but the results have not been replicated in a non-US sample and the psychological mechanisms underlying the effects have yet to be examined. The present study therefore used a post-test only randomized controlled design to investigate the effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization among Remainers and Leavers (n = 922). Results showed that participants in the befriending condition scored modestly lower on affective polarization than participants in the attentional control condition (t(921) = 2.17, p = .030, d = 0.14) and that perceived commonality with the political outgroup mediated the effects. In sum, audio-guided befriending practices may be a highly scalable means to reduce high levels of affective polarization through increasing perceived commonality.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267493 |
| spellingShingle | Otto Simonsson Simon B Goldberg Joseph Marks Liuxin Yan Jayanth Narayanan Bridging the (Brexit) divide: Effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization. PLoS ONE |
| title | Bridging the (Brexit) divide: Effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization. |
| title_full | Bridging the (Brexit) divide: Effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization. |
| title_fullStr | Bridging the (Brexit) divide: Effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bridging the (Brexit) divide: Effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization. |
| title_short | Bridging the (Brexit) divide: Effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization. |
| title_sort | bridging the brexit divide effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267493 |
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