Why do people clash over social causes like the Black Lives Matter movement and protests?
This clip goes over some reasons that people sometimes disagree so strongly about an issue, as uncovered by social science research.
Also check out this good research-based book for more about why opposing views clash and how society could reduce clashes between social and political groups.
Hi, this is Dr. Matt B with your Emotional Minutes. As this is being filmed, it’s been about a week and a half since George Floyd was killed. Because of this, there has been a lot of BLM protests. People are asking me what I think about the situation and why there is so much unrest around it.
This is a difficult topic. It brings up a lot of anger. First off, I want to say that I agree with the protesters. They’re getting at something that has been an inherent injustice in our society for many, many years.
In this clip, I don’t intend to give my opinion on the BLM protests. We all have opinions on things. I want to talk about this from a behavioral science perspective. Particularly, reasons behind the disagreement and why the two sides are angry with each other.
Causes of Conflict: Attribution
There’s a lot of really interesting research in social psychology looking at something called attribution. Attribution is a fancy word for the reasons we give ourselves about why things happen. Depending on experiences and history, people will have different attributions for why something happens.
Attribution is often viewed as very beneficial. But, like anything with human psychology or humans at all, nothing is perfect. Even though attribution can help us quickly think through situations, it can also bring errors or situations where people class when their attributions differ.
How Attribution Relates to the Protests
When we look at the BLM protests surrounding George Floyd and not the riots, there is a big difference is attributions. People who disagree with the protests might say things like “they’re being disrespectful of society” or “they just don’t care about the law”. The attributions of protesters may center around being allowed to protest because they’ve been mistreated and marginalized in society or the conditions they’re experiencing are not fair.
There’s two different explanations for the same event. When clashes occur, it is usually because people buy into the attributions they give themselves. They then get set on those reasons for why the event occurred.
Causes of Conflict: In-Group/Out-Group Differences
The reasons that we give things can often be strengthened by what we call in-group/out-group differences. This term means how we identify with one group or position and how we fit into that group or position. It also refers to how our group or position does not fit with other groups people belong to.
When we focus on and really believe an explanation, we close ourselves off from other explanations. If you think about different conflicts in history, there can be hundreds of reasons why they happened. However, we tend to focus on only one or two of them. When we focus in on those, we’re unable to see other points of view and other possibilities.
Counteracting Attributions
One way to counteract attributions is to check in with your thoughts and look at your explanation for things. You don’t have to change your view. Just check in. This gets you into a healthy process with yourself if you check in with your explanation of events. This is healthy because it can open you up to other possibilities or other reasons for what is happening. It also helps you interact with people who don’t have the same attributions as you.
There’s no harm in questioning the explanation you’ve given yourself about why a certain event is happening.
This is what we are talking about when we look at attribution. Oftentimes, this is a lot of the reason behind why we have clashes in our society; whether it’s in politics, social issues, or things like that. We believe a select few potential causes without opening ourselves up to other reasons.
In our video on coping with anxiety and stress about politics, we cover strategies to help reduce these negative feelings. If you find that your anxiety or stress is interfering with your daily life, I suggest reaching out to a mental health provider.
