Photo: Geralt | Pixabay
When it comes to social and political issues, many Americans feel hostile toward those they disagree with. Unfortunately, those feelings of contempt can affect our ability to cooperate, keeping us from working together on solutions to the big issues. New studies suggest that practicing more intellectual humility may allow us to engage with each other with less rancor. New data suggests that those who had more intellectually humble attitudes of a topic viewed opponents in a more positive light. In fact, their own intellectual humility was a better predictor of their hostility toward others than their own ideology, political party, political knowledge or strength of their opinion. “When people hold opinions with humility, they feel less hostility toward those who disagree, while the more people think they know about an issue, the less humble they are and the more hostile they are towards other people,” said Glen Smith of the University of North Carolina, who was involved with the study. “If I’m humble, there’s an implication that I might be wrong and you might be right. And if that’s the case, then why would I hate you?” The article concludes by saying that we can make a dent in political polarization by practicing more humility.
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