Obama’s Psychology Translator

Source: Laurie Fanelli, used with permission

You might recall President Obama’s “Anger Translator,” a character developed by comedian Keegan-Michael Key to voice the president’s inner rage that he did not express outwardly. Obama’s keynote at the Democratic National Convention touched on some psychological concepts that are worthy of elaboration. As a professor of counseling psychology with expertise on navigating political division, I’m going to take a stab at being President Obama’s “Psychology Translator” by unpacking a few of these points.

We start thinking that the only way to win is to scold and shame and out-yell the other side. And after a while, regular folks just tune out, or they don’t bother to vote.

Although on both sides of the political spectrum there are dedicated partisans, or even extremists, most Americans are in the middle. This “exhausted majority” is tired of the vitriol coming from the left and right. These people feel overlooked, are less likely to vote, and don’t participate because they don’t feel confident in their voice, question if they can have an impact, or have other priorities in their lives. Rather than welcoming these Americans into our democratic processes, those who are more engaged are driving them away with heated political diatribe.

…we need to remember that we’ve all got our blind spots and contradictions and prejudices.

Built into our human brains are cognitive biases. These mental shortcuts are necessary to process the overwhelming amount of sensory input we’re exposed to each day, but they also skew our perspectives of ourselves and others. Three cognitive biases are particularly influential in our current political division. Confirmation bias, which steers us to focus on information that supports what we already believe to be true and ignore or dismiss information that conflicts with our existing beliefs. Due to naïve realism, we view our own interpretations as logical, whereas we believe others are influenced by emotion, self-interest, and ideology. These cognitive biases prejudice us to see ourselves as correct and objective and those across the political spectrum as ignorant and biased.

…all of us across the political spectrum seem so quick to assume the worst in others unless they agree with us on every single issue.

Another cognitive bias, motive attribution asymmetry is our tendency to view our own motives are caring and those on the other side as hostile, or even hateful. Assuming they are driven by aggression, this a bias leads us to fear people who disagree with us. Empathy further enflames this battle between good and evil as we see ourselves as protecting the vulnerable from those who are doing them harm.

if we want to win over those who aren’t yet ready to support our candidates, we need to listen to their concerns and maybe learn something in the process.

If we want to persuade someone, we should foster a warm relationship and demonstrate a genuine desire to understand. Effective listening entails giving someone uninterrupted time to speak, reflecting back what we heard, and encouraging them to elaborate on meaning, values, and experiences. Intellectual humility can help us to do this by leaning into curiosity and respect for other people’s views. We don’t need to change our minds, but we might benefit from broadening our understanding.

We chase the approval of strangers on our phones. We build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves, and then we wonder why we feel so alone. We don’t trust each other as much because we don’t take the time to know each other. And in that space between us, politicians and algorithms teach us to caricature each other and troll each other and fear each other.

Social media algorithms reinforce sharing of polarizing content and promote echo chambers. Posting, sharing, and liking fail to create meaningful relationships to combat the loneliness epidemic. Engaging with social media accounts rather than three-dimensional humans flattens people into stereotypes and makes it easy to dismiss and dehumanize them.

All across America, in big cities and small towns, away from all the noise, the ties that bind us together are still there…Because the vast majority of us do not want to live in a country that’s bitter and divided. We want something better. We want to be better.

There is a bridging movement in the United States—500-plus organizations are committed to strengthening social cohesion and our democracy. Everyday Americans are engaging with these organizations, repairing ruptured relationships, and prioritizing human connection. The media may focus on conflict, but Americans agree on many things, share core values, and are working together toward a brighter future.