How to Effectively Argue About Abortion Rights With People Who Just Don't Get It
glamour.comdo change it is because they have established an empathic bond with someone else, meaning that they have started to see that other person as a human being with their own experiences and their own perspectives rather than someone that they can argue with or who doesn’t understand,” she says.Offer background on why you believe the way you do.
Share personal experiences that can help contextualize why it matters to you. Ask the same of them.Whether written in a text, email, or on social media, tone is easily lost — and also swiftly escalates. “Studies show that if you read an opinion that you don’t agree with in any form, you’re more likely to believe that that person disagrees with you because they are stupid and they don’t understand the core concepts,” Headlee explains. “But if they hear you explain your opinion in your own voice, they’re more likely to believe that you disagree because you have a different perspective and experience.”For that reason, try to avoid the heavily drafted, impassioned, and often performative digital back-and-forths. “Make sure that you are speaking with them in a way that is authentic,” Headlee says, “meaning you’re doing it in person or on the phone if that’s possible.”Building some trust before you take up a dissenting opinion makes all the difference in being heard. “Generally, people like to hear about what they already think,” explains Dr.
Gail Saltz, associate professor of psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of medicine and host of the podcast from iHeartRadio.
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