The Potential for Values to Connect People across Constructed Divides

Around the world, people talk about the importance of their values – ideals such as equality, freedom, helpfulness, or environmental sustainability. It is frequently assumed that values differ substantially between people and between diverse social categories, including those constructed from culture, gender, nationality, political belief, religiosity, and social class. This presentation highlights theory and evidence suggesting that the reality is very different. International data reveal strong similarities in values between diverse groups. Furthermore, evidence across multiple experiments indicates that introducing people to this similarity increases outgroup positivity, open-mindedness, and optimism about resolving societal challenges, even when there is polarization between groups