Two people can encounter the same stimulus (e.g. a movie) and believe that they have either very similar subjective reactions to that stimulus (e.g., "We both thought that scene was heartwrenching") or very different subjective reactions (e.g., "I thought the scene was heartwrenching; she thought it was cliched"). Often, when two people encounter the same stimulus, they feel more connected to the extent that they believe that they share the same response to that stimulus. Drawing from William James' distinction between the "I" -- or, the subjective experience of self -- and the "Me" -- or, the objective experience of self, Dr. Elizabeth Pinel (University of Vermont) refers to the belief that one has shared an identical subjective experience with another person as "I-sharing." Dr. Pinel posits that I-sharing promotes social harmony and explores the reasons this might be the case. Specifically in a series of experimental studies, Dr. Pinel will explore whether I-sharing promotes empathy, perspective-taking, self-regulation, and reduced hostile cognitions and whether these, in turn, lead to greater levels of conflict resolution, accommodation, and helping.
This research has the potential to advance the scientific understanding of social harmony and could inform interventions designed to reduce social conflict and promote prosocial outcomes. If it turns out that boosting I-sharing can appreciably increase social harmony, this could have important implications in many different arenas of social life including violence and bullying in schools, marital satisfaction and divorce, even political conflicts. Also, the research will offer training to undergraduate and graduate students in the rigorous methods of social psychological research.
