How much small acts of kindness and connection can really change the world, according to psychology research.

political riftswars, oppression… It is easy to feel hopeless and helpless as you watch these dark forces emerge. In the face of so much destruction, can any of us truly make a meaningful difference?

Given the magnitude of the world’s problems, it might seem that the small acts of human connection and solidarity you can control are like putting a Band-Aid on gunshot wounds. It may be naive to imagine that small actions can make a global difference.

As a psychologist and human relations researcher and as one of the audience, I was inspired by listening to the musicians hozier We offer a counterpoint in a performance this year. “Small acts of love and solidarity that we offer to each other can have a powerful impact…” he told the crowd. “I believe that people in general are essentially good; I really do. I will die on that hill.”

I’m happy to say that science agrees with him.

Research shows that individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impact on global change when those actions are collective. This is true on many levels: between individuals, between people and institutions, and across cultures.

This relational micro-activism is a powerful force for change and serves as an antidote to despair because, unlike global-scale problems, these small actions are under the control of individuals.

It becomes real through abstract relationships

Theoretically, the idea that small interpersonal actions have large-scale impact is what psychologists call ” cognitive dissonance: The discomfort you feel when your actions and beliefs don’t align.

For example, think of two people who like each other. People believe they are fighting climate change the other believes climate change is a political ploy. Cognitive dissonance occurs: They love each other but disagree. People are craving cognitive balanceSo the more these two like each other, the more motivated they will be to listen to each other.

According to this model, the more you strengthen your relationships through acts of connection, the more likely you are to empathize with other individual perspectives. When these efforts are collective, they can increase understanding, compassion, and community throughout society. Topics like war and oppression can feel overwhelming and abstract, but when you connect with someone you care about, the abstract becomes real.

But does this theory hold true when it comes to real-world data?

Small acts of connection change attitudes

Numerous studies support the power of individual acts of connection to drive larger-scale change.

For example, researchers studying the political divide in the United States found that participants who identified as Democrats or Republicans largely “disliked” people from the other group. negative assumptions about the other person’s morality. People also said they valued moral values ​​such as justice, respect, loyalty and the willingness to harm others.

I deliberately leave out which political group prefers which characteristics; These all sound like positive traits, right? Although participants thought they disliked each other politically, they also valued characteristics that benefited relationships.

One interpretation of these findings is that the more people act on each other, the more loyal friends they become and community members People who want to prevent harm to others are more likely to moderate large-scale social and political disagreements.

Even more convincing, another study found that Hungarian and Romanian students, i.e. ethnic groups have a history full of social tensions and say they have strong friendships with each other. reported that attitudes towards the other group increased. Having a rocky friendship with someone from the other group actually damaged attitudes towards the other ethnic group as a whole. Again, cultivation quality of relationshipsEven on an objectively small scale, they had powerful effects in reducing large-scale tensions.

In another study, researchers examined prejudice toward what psychologists call an outgroup: a group to which you don’t belong based on ethnicity, political affiliation, or simply your preference for dogs over cats.

They asked participants to think about the positive qualities of someone they know or their own positive qualities. When participants wrote about the positive qualities of someone else rather than themselves, they later reported: lower levels of prejudice against the outgroup-even if the person they are writing about has no connection to that outgroup. Here, instead of moving away from prejudice, turning to appreciating the other was an effective way to transform prejudiced beliefs.

So small acts of connection can change personal attitudes. So can these really affect societies?

From one to one to society at large

Each person is embedded in their own networks with the people and the world around them; psychologists do this social ecology. Compassionate change at every level Changing a person’s social ecology (intrapersonal, interpersonal, or structural) can affect all other levels in a kind of positive feedback loop or upward spiral.

For example both System-level anti-discrimination programming in schools Inter-student and interpersonal support act reciprocally to shape school environments for students from historically marginalized groups. Individual actions again play a key role in these positive effects. domino effects.

Even as a researcher of human connection, I am amazed at how far I and others have moved toward mutual understanding simply by caring about each other. So, after all, what are small acts of connection other than acts of strengthening relationships that strengthen communities and impact societies?

In most of my clinical work, I use a model called: social app—or “intentional community building”—as a form of therapy For people recovering from serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. And if intentional community building can address some of the most debilitating conditions of the human psyche, I believe it follows that it can also help address the most debilitating conditions of human societies in general.

Simply put, science supports the idea that engaging with each other in small ways can be transformational. I will die on that hill too.

This article is republished from: Speech It is under Creative Commons license. Read original article.