Author: Skunkworks

We often see others in terms of their group membership: He’s old, she’s white, they’re immigrants. But according to research, when we view people in terms of their own individual tastes and preferences, we feel less threatened by those who might seem “not like us.” How to Do It The essence of this practice is…

The stereotypes we hold about other people or groups can dictate how we treat them. But as we’re exposed to information that challenges those stereotypes, our views can become more positive – and our behavior may follow. How to Do It It’s important to start by acknowledging that we do hold stereotypes about individuals, based…

Through exposure to new people, events, and experiences, we can broaden our own sense of what’s comfortable and familiar to us. How to Do It In many respects, this exercise is really just a matter of moving toward things that make you uncomfortable. Do you tend to have a low opinion of people who oppose…

Research suggests we can reduce social biases by building moment-to-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, and surroundings through practices like meditation. How to Do It Find a relaxed, comfortable position. You could be seated on a chair oron the floor on a cushion. Keep your back upright, but not too tight. Rest your hands wherever…

Entering a conversation with the sense that the other person dislikes or distrusts you – or has a nefarious agenda – may put you in an anxious mindset that negatively affects your interaction. By assuming that the other person is approaching your interaction from a place of goodwill, it will likely go better for both…

Week 1: Intrapersonal The five skills and strategies in this first section are those that you can try on your own, without a partner. By cultivating the mindsets and experiences that orient you toward bridging, they can deepen your capacity for more positive interactions with other people and across groups. Although these are strategies that…

Bridge building is vital to healthy relationships and healthy institutions. And it helps counteract the trends toward greater polarization that we are seeing in many places. Polarization is not the same as disagreement about how to solve public problems; those disagreements are natural, even healthy. Polarization is about more than just having a different opinion…

What Bridging Is… and What It Isn’t Before you dive into this website, we want to clarify a few important aspects of bridge building. Bridging is Not About Persuasion; It is About Understanding The true goal of bridging differences isn’t to convince another person of your viewpoint or even necessarily to build consensus. Instead, the…

The Bridging Differences strategies set out in this website are key skills and strategies for overcoming divides. They are based on UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center’s Bridging Differences Playbook, which draws on cutting-edge research and insights from trailblazing “bridge building” programs across the world. In creating the strategies, Berkeley reviewed decades of scientific studies,…

The world has become more polarized in recent years. While we hear a lot about political and cultural divides that exist in the United States, we have similar problems in Canada. For example, one in four Canadians report hating either conservatives or liberals. And then there are the issues we regularly hear about in the…