Why our brains divide people into friends and foes

Race, gender, age, language, religion, economic status - all these are signs by which we divide people into two groups: the "we" and "they."

"They are" against "us"

Our brain is "programmed" to divide the world into "us" and "them." Scientists have traced this using functional magnetic resonance tomography - a method which displays the activity of different regions of the brain under certain conditions. Participants are 50 milliseconds (this is a twentieth of a second) showed photographs of faces, and even in such a short period of time to the brain to divide them into groupsA review of neuroimaging studies of race-related prejudice: does amygdala response reflect threat?.

When showed the faces of people of a different race, it intensified the amygdala, which is responsible for the emergence of fear, anxiety and aggression.

In addition, when a "foreign" people less active cells fusiform cortex - the area responsible for face recognition. Because of this, we are worse than remember the face of Representatives races other than our own.

Perhaps the primary role in this division emotions play. "I do not know for sure, whatBut something about them is not so "- we think first, and only then our mind generates small facts and plausible fiction, explaining why we hate those" others ".

How it manifests itself

We can easily forgive the members of their group misdeeds and sins. But if the "wrong" doing something wrong, we believe that this reflects their nature - they have always been, and will be so. And when the wrong one of "us", we are referring to mitigating circumstances.

And different types of "foreign" cause we have different senses (and different neurobiological responses). One we see threatening, aggressive, untrustworthy, others seem ridiculous to us and become a subject of ridicule.

But sometimes "they" can cause us and disgust. Such a reaction is related to the insular lobe. It protects mammals from food poisoning, triggering the gag reflex in response to the taste or smell of rotten food. But in humans it causes not only physical but also moral disgust. When we hear about the evil deeds or see shocking images, activated the insulaBoth of Us Disgusted in My Insula: The Common Neural Basis of Seeing and Feeling Disgust. . Also, such a reaction occurs when we are faced with some groups of "others", such as drug addicts.

How to fight it

Go to contact

When people from different groups work together and strive for a common goal, the contradictions are smoothed. We are beginning to better understand "them" and see the similarities with them.

Find a positive example, and turn on empathy

To get rid of stereotypes, remember someone from the group of "others" who use the universal love and respect, for example, some kind of celebrity. Or put yourself in other groups, and consider what he might be a problem. It will change your perception.

Does not equal one size fits all

Think of the individual, not the whole group.

Fully recover from the division of people into two groups, it is impossible (unless, of course, you are not missing the amygdala). But it is not all that bad.

Do not call all the members of the group, is a "foreign" as an individual.

Do not forget that you think a rational, it is often a simple manipulation of facts. Focus on common goals. And put yourself in the shoes of others, to understand what they are feeling.