Political Polarization and Health: Navigating the social media divide

Issue 182: Why political polarization affects both individual and societal health

Jay recently did an interview about “Political Polarization and Health: Navigating the social media divide” on The Stress Puzzle podcast with Dr. Ryan Brown. They discussed why political polarization is a threat to individual and societal health—which is particularly salient as we’re seeing a rise in politically-motivated violence.

In a wide ranging conversation, they covered the dangers of rising political polarization, how social media incentives contribute to polarization, and why we should consider political polarization as a social determinant of health. In this episode, listeners will learn more about the psychological mechanisms behind polarization, potential interventions to reduce social and political tensions, and how social media drives polarization.

Listen to the conversation on Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows!

The topics they discussed include:

• Social Identity

• Political Polarization (Ideological vs Affective Polarization)

• Partisanship/Partisan Animosity

• In-Group/Out-Group

• Information Sharing

• Misinformation/Disinformation

• Social Inclusion

• Social Media

• Psychology of Virality

• Science Communication

• Trust in Science

The Stress Puzzle is supported by the UCSF Stress Measurement Network, an NIH/NIA funded network which aims to better understand the relationship between stress and health by improving the measurement of stress in research studies. You can learn more about available resources to support stress research at: www.stressmeasurement.org.

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News and Updates

Another Ask Me Anything session is happening this month! Paid Subscribers can join us for our monthly live Q&A with Jay or Dom where you can ask us anything from workshopping research questions, career advice to opinions and recommendations on pop culture happenings—for paid subscribers only. Upgrade your subscription to join

• Sept 11th: 4:00 EST with Jay (this happened last month and was a good time!)

• Oct 16th 4:00 EST with Dom

• Nov 6th 4:00 EST with Jay

• Dec 11th 4:00 EST with Dom

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Catch up on the last one…

Last week, we offered four guiding principles to optimize collaborating on scientific projects and manuscripts.

Using the Science of Teams to Lead Scientific Teams