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On the night of Election Day in the United States, we will start finding out the presidential election results. According to recent polling, 89 percent of Democratic voters believe that democracy will weaken if Trump is elected, while 86 percent of Republican voters believe that democracy will weaken if Harris is elected.
Further, 76 percent of voters are concerned that there will be violent attempts to overthrow the election results.
Obviously, forming beliefs is a necessary part of the voting process. However, a danger lurks when many members of both sides of the political spectrum convince themselves unequivocally that if their preferred candidate loses great harm will ensue in this country.
These days, our beliefs are reinforced by the echo chamber of social media, mainstream media, some of our leadership (political, religious, and other groups), and the lack of respect people exhibit for others who hold opposing views, which extends to refusing to even consider the merit of opposing beliefs.
Many families and groups agree to avoid discussions about topics that can cause dissension as a way of remaining cohesive. Unfortunately, this approach does not allow us to come up with compromise solutions.
One danger of forming and maintaining strong beliefs is that we tend to interpret events in a way that is consistent with our beliefs, including through disregarding evaluation of events that might lead to contrary conclusions. Unfortunately, this tendency impedes our ability to reconsider and potentially modify our beliefs. Furthermore, our reactions, including subsequent actions, are then dictated by the beliefs we hold.
Thus, the beliefs of large portions of the electorate that our democracy will be weakened or that violence will ensue after the election may contribute to manifestation of these events.
For instance, when a preferred candidate loses, some people might work to undermine the authority of the opposing candidate or to undertake violent acts because they believe that this will reduce the chances of a weakened democracy. I believe that we saw such actions on the part of both sides of the political spectrum in 2016 and 2020.
Unfortunately, actions that undermine our leaders through violence or other means hurt the United States. Therefore, I propose that we supplement our political beliefs with statements of positive reassurance that we should use regardless of the outcome.
“We will be OK. We are a resilient people.”
“Challenges give us an opportunity for growth.”
“We wish much success for our elected president as the leader of our country.”
“We can continue to advocate for our beliefs in a positive way that will be heard and affect the future of our country in a good way.”
Through the use of positive statements, we will be able to counter some of the negativity that has enveloped many people.
Takeaway
Our brains can be loosely likened to a computer that follows its programming. Thus, our brains will act according to the inputs they receive. Each one of us has the ability to use positive statements to help ourselves improve.
We can begin to re-establish dialogue with people who hold opposing viewpoints by focusing on the problems we agree need to be solved and discussing possible solutions in a nonjudgmental fashion.
During this election season, I urge all of us to fulfill our privilege of voting and to channel our reactions in a positive, constructive way, no matter the outcome.
