We live in deeply polarised times. Switch on your TV or scroll through your social media feed and the chances are you’ll see friends, relatives and pundits at each other’s throats, fighting the culture war du jour.
There’s no shortage of potential causes – from political disillusionment, economic upheaval, globalisation, fake news and disinformation, or self-reinforcing social media feeds. These divisions can make public discourse feel impossible, but according to academics at the University of Derby there are things we can do to be more compassionate and kinder.
“Compassion is noticing the distress, suffering or disadvantage of yourself or others, and then having the skills to do something about it,” says Prof Frances Maratos, an expert in affective science, or the study of emotion and affect. Her research centres on understanding the psychological, neurological, cognitive and physiological correlates of emotional wellbeing.
“Rather than focusing on the problem, compassion allows individuals to take a step back, reflect on what’s not really helping, and engage in alternative thinking as to how to find a solution,” says Maratos, who works with schools, businesses and other organisations to teach compassionate mind training, and to foster compassionate feelings where they may have previously been lacking. “When people are a little bit calmer and more collected, we know it helps your brain and body work in a different way – your frontal cortices come online, and you release more acetylcholine, meaning you become solution-focused rather than problem-focused.”
Given how helpful compassion can be in tackling polarisation, how can we inject more compassion into the public square? The good news is that even when compassion is completely absent – as it feels in many culture war debates – it’s possible to create it. “It’s not that some people can’t be compassionate, because they can,” says Maratos, who explains that it comes easier to some people than others. “We all have different levels of emotion. But if you’re one person who potentially doesn’t feel things, and perhaps aren’t as empathic as other people, then absolutely, it is a skill that can be learned.”
The first step towards understanding and compassion is knowing what to look for. “We teach individuals to start noticing triggers such as threat, fear and anxiety,” says Maratos. “We sit kids and adults down and we get them to think about what the facial expressions associated with being angry or worried are. What is happening with their body language? What’s going on in their heads? We also get them to think about what situations this occurs in.” Maratos is also undertaking research into compassion in schools and, for the Leverhulme Trust, investigated compassion to promote wellbeing. She also continues to lecture in psychology and psychopathology at the University of Derby.
Do you have an idea for a novel research project or course syllabus that could supercharge humanity’s efforts to save the world? The University of Derby is challenging 16- to 24-year-olds to submit a short proposal, with the chance to win £1,000, and to partner with its academics to develop a MOOC (massive open online course). Find out more at derby.ac.uk
Other academics at the university contribute to an understanding of compassion from the perspective of other disciplines. Prof Lynn Saunders is head of law and social sciences at the University of Derby, with a professional background working in the criminal justice system, in both prisons and the community. “Compassion and care is important when working with people who have been convicted of serious offences,” she says. Her research interests include the resettlement of people convicted of sexual offences after a prison sentence, and through her work she has discovered that even in those difficult contexts, it is possible to stimulate compassion. “Although unpalatable as this can sometimes be, public safety depends on focusing not only on an individual’s risks but also on their needs – helping to support them to be better people and to contribute positively to their communities.”
This sentiment is echoed by Kate Moss, professor of applied criminology at the University of Derby, who has published widely in the areas of crime reduction and homelessness. “If you can help people to understand more about a social issue, then I think that actually helps people to be more compassionate.” Moss has seen perspectives shift in her own research into homelessness, including how some people’s prejudices and misconceptions about homeless people have given way to a growing appreciation that it can happen to anyone.
For those seeking to use their studies to make the world better, these approaches are a good example of how fruitful and fulfilling it can be to be able to think outside traditional subject silos and deploy more of a multidisciplinary approach. Undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Derby are encouraged and empowered to come up with novel approaches to researching global problems that often don’t fit neatly into traditional fields of study. The university provides forums for facilitating this, including an Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme that gives all second-year students the chance to take part in funded and supported research projects, and PhD bursaries where students take the lead.
Regardless of the approach, building compassion is everyone’s responsibility and it brings benefits to us as individuals to be kinder. “The way we currently go about society is very neoliberal, and very hierarchical,” says Maratos – whose work has contributed to better understanding anxiety and processes of pain in society and particularly in young people. “We have this weird predominant self-interest approach. Mostly we’re teaching individuals to be narcissistic and strive to be the best.” So, for example, Maratos teaches her clients to understand and guard against becoming “monopolisers” in conversation settings, those who dominate the discussion – a type of person who isn’t exactly uncommon in politics. She observes that situations can deteriorate, particularly if you get two monopolisers – what she terms an “alpha pair” – taking over a conversation. That’s when everyone needs to act.
“If you’re in a group, and you’re noticing things like that, what is the skillset you can use? How can you work to avoid these situations or address them?” asks Maratos. And one such skill is knowing how to direct your feelings. Even if raging at that moron on Facebook might seem like a good idea in the moment, it might prove counterproductive when it comes to actually finding common ground.
So, the next time you can feel your blood starting to boil, before you explode and launch another salvo at your opponents, perhaps stop and put yourself in your opponents’ shoes, show a little humility and, who knows, maybe you will feel better and, if we all do it, perhaps we’ll end up with a slightly more compassionate and kinder world?
Do you have an idea for a novel research project or course syllabus that could supercharge humanity’s efforts to save the world? The University of Derby is challenging 16- to 24-year-olds to submit a short proposal, with the chance to win £1,000, and to partner with its academics to develop a MOOC (massive open online course). Find out more at derby.ac.uk