Education toward cosmopolitanism as a pathway to reducing polarisation
Abstract
Polarisation poses significant challenges to societal cohesion and democracy. This article explores how education, guided by cosmopolitan principles, can address these divides by fostering empathy, promoting intercultural dialogue, and challenging exclusionary narratives. This article advances the concept of rooted cosmopolitanism by demonstrating how local cultural attachments can complement global ethical principles by balancing particularistic and universalistic values. Through examples of case studies conducted in Canada, Israel, and India, this article highlights the adaptability of cosmopolitan education in diverse sociopolitical contexts and illustrates how education can bridge divides, promote mutual respect, and foster unity in diversity. The practical strategies include integrating global and local perspectives into curricula, promoting experiential learning to engage with diversity, and equipping educators with cultural competence and anti-bias tools. While resistance to change and resource constraints persist, the findings underscore education’s transformative potential to reduce polarisation and cultivate inclusive, equitable communities. This calls for sustained efforts to embed rooted cosmopolitan principles into education, by providing a framework for bridging divides and preparing students to navigate an interconnected world.
How to foster perceived partner responsiveness: High-quality listening is key
Guy Itzchakov, Harry T. Reis, Netta Weinstein
Listening
Social psychologists have a longstanding interest in the mechanisms responsible for the beneficial effects of positive social connections. This article reviews and integrates two emerging but to this point disparate lines of work that focus on these mechanisms: high-quality listening and perceived partner responsiveness. We also review research investigating the downstream consequences of high-quality listening and perceived partner responsiveness: the how and why of understanding the process by which these downstream benefits are obtained. High-quality listening and perceived partner responsiveness, though not isomorphic, are related constructs in that they both incorporate several key interpersonal processes, such as understanding, positive regard, and expressions of caring for another person. We develop a theoretical model for representing how listening embodies one form of interactive behavior that can promote (or hinder) perceived partner responsiveness and its downstream affective, cognitive, and behavioral effects. Finally, we discuss our model’s implications for various social-psychological domains, such as social cognition, self-evaluation, constructive disagreements, and interpersonal relationships.
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Attitudes in an interpersonal context: Psychological safety as a route to attitude change
Guy Itzchakov, Kenneth G. DeMarree
Attitudes
Interpersonal contexts can be complex because they can involve two or more
people who are interdependent, each of whom is pursuing both individual
and shared goals. Interactions consist of individual and joint behaviors
that evolve dynamically over time. Interactions are likely to affect people’s
attitudes because the interpersonal context gives conversation partners a
great deal of opportunity to intentionally or unintentionally influence each
other.
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