Minding the empathy gap : how insights into brains and behaviors are placating polarization

Abstract

The One America Movement is a nonprofit, bridge-building organization founded after the 2016 presidential election. The organization is committed to combating toxic polarization all over the country. On January 27, 2019, One America organized a meeting in South Jordan, Utah in which Latter-day Saints and Jews came together to foster empathy for the other faith. This thesis reports on the on the interfaith event and explores the science behind it and other conflict resolution strategies. Touching on neuroscience and social psychology, this thesis addresses how we come to define empathy, why and when we fail to express it, and how we can hope to recoup it.