{"id":2729,"date":"2024-10-16T18:11:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T18:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?p=2729"},"modified":"2025-03-13T12:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T12:00:14","slug":"three-points-lower-anxiety-about-political-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/10\/16\/three-points-lower-anxiety-about-political-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Points to Lower Anxiety About Political Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent <\/span>survey<\/span><\/a> found 73% of Americans are very worried about political violence. <\/span>However, it\u2019s important we put our fears into perspective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overstated fears of political violence can create a <\/i><\/b>self-reinforcing cycle<\/i><\/b> of fear and anger that makes violence more likely<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Here are three key points to help lower your blood pressure when it comes to political violence: <\/span><\/p>\n

1. Support for violence is lower than you may think<\/b><\/h3>\n

Some headlines have promoted the idea that support for political violence in America is as high as 40%! However, Sean Westwood, Director of the <\/span>Polarization Research Lab<\/span><\/a>, has shown the real figure is <\/span>closer to 3%<\/span><\/a> (and <\/span>other<\/span><\/a> studies<\/span><\/a> have supported that lower estimate). That\u2019s still a concerning number \u2014 but a far cry from the oft-cited larger numbers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of the confusion comes from <\/span>weak survey methods<\/span><\/a> and from people using surveys to vent their frustrations. Also muddying the waters in these areas is the fact that hate crimes may be grouped in with political violence. \u201cThere\u2019s certainly a political component to [those kinds] of violence,\u201d <\/span>said Sean Westwood<\/span><\/a>, \u201cbut it\u2019s very different from an assassination attempt on a political leader.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The assassination attempts on Trump in 2024 resulted in many <\/span>team-based interpretations<\/span><\/a>, but interestingly and on a more hopeful note, <\/span>support for violence decreased<\/span><\/a> after those events. This shows that violent acts don\u2019t necessarily lead to more violence and can even push people away from it. <\/span><\/p>\n

2. Individuals don\u2019t represent groups<\/b><\/h3>\n

When violent acts occur, people often use them to confirm negative stereotypes about their political opponents. For instance, after the assassination attempt on Trump, some of his supporters thought, \u201cThis is what the \u2018other side\u2019 is like; this is what they want.\u201d If the roles were reversed and someone had tried to kill Biden, some of these same people would find themselves thinking things like, \u201cThat troubled individual\u2019s actions don\u2019t reflect my large and complex group.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This dynamic is key to understanding our different reactions to so many events and behaviors around us. We naturally filter for the most <\/span>negative interpretations<\/span><\/a> of things associated with the \u201cother side\u201d and the most positive interpretations of things on \u201cour side.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

3. Covid may have amplified our fears of each other<\/b><\/h3>\n

For Democrat-leaning voters, the <\/span>January 6th Capitol attack<\/span><\/a> played a role in shaping concerns about the violence the \u201cother side\u201d is capable of. Among Republican-leaning voters, <\/span>violence at George Floyd-related protests<\/span><\/a> has played a similar role. (This is not to compare these fears; it\u2019s just to examine their role in affecting perceptions.)<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to remember those events happened at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The disease itself, and restrictions put in place to combat it, led to stress for many people \u2014 both financial and psychological. In addition to the stress, many people had a lot of free time and many were spending a lot more time online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As <\/span>Brian Michael Jenkins put it<\/span><\/a>: \u201cDeprived of their daily routines and personal relationships, people are disoriented, disillusioned and isolated \u2014 creating a receptive audience for fringe ideas.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t to excuse violent and illegal acts; it\u2019s to help understand why violence may have been made more likely during that time. <\/span>Seeing that those events occurred during an unusual and particularly stressful time can temper our fears of each other now.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Striving for realistic and nuanced views<\/b><\/h3>\n

Political violence is a concern; we\u2019re not saying there is nothing to worry about. However, overstating the threat can ramp up tensions, making conflict more likely. For one thing, extremists may be more likely to engage in violence if they think they have more support from fellow citizens than they actually do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Political scientist <\/span>Thomas Zeitzoff makes the point<\/span><\/a> that overstated fears of violence can distract us from more realistic and common ways political hostilities play out (for example, the use of legal and legislative maneuvers).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To minimize toxicity and there by the likelihood of violence, we can work to correct <\/span>our distorted views of each other<\/span><\/a>. We can avoid reacting in team-based, conflict-amplifying ways when bad and scary events occur (as they inevitably will). We can seek to criticize and speak out against political violence while avoiding speaking in simplistic, <\/span>\u201cthey\u2019re all the same\u201d<\/span><\/a> ways about our political opponents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And we know we can act in these depolarizing ways even while we <\/span>advocate strongly for our political beliefs and goals<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to stay in the loop about efforts to reduce political toxicity? <\/span><\/i>Sign up for our newsletter<\/span><\/i><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent survey found 73% of Americans are very worried about political violence. However, it\u2019s important we put our fears into perspective.\u00a0 Overstated fears of political violence can create a self-reinforcing cycle of fear and anger that makes violence more likely.\u00a0 Here are three key points to help lower your blood pressure when it comes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":2730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"collection_feed":[],"type_feed":[77],"class_list":["post-2729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThree Points to Lower Anxiety About Political Violence - Builders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2024\/10\/16\/three-points-lower-anxiety-about-political-violence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three Points to Lower Anxiety About Political Violence - Builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent survey found 73% of Americans are very worried about political violence. 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