Think society is in decline? Research gives us some reasons to be cheerful
Psychologist Paul Hanel, writing for The Conversation, counters popular fears of widespread moral decline by highlighting global research that suggests positive values like honesty and helpfulness are consistently prioritized by people across cultures, politics, and demographics. He cites behavioral studies showing widespread cooperation and kindness in everyday life and argues that pessimism is driven by negative media and unrepresentative online content.
In a 2022 study of 32,000 people across 49 cultural groups, the values of loyalty, honesty and helpfulness ranked highest, while power and wealth ranked lowest. The results offer little support for claims of moral decline. An interactive tool, developed by social scientist Maksim Rudnev using data from the European Social Survey, shows that the pattern remained consistent between 2002-23 across over 30 European countries.
Further studies show people’s values are broadly similar across over 60 countries, education levels, religious denominations and gender (there are exceptions of course). That is, there is substantial overlap between the responses between both groups.
Jared Armstrong: Using basketball to beat antisemitism, racism
Prohuman Foundation advisor Jared Armstrong was interviewed by Jewish News Syndicate about his efforts to combat antisemitism and racism through youth basketball. The American-Israeli professional player founded a Philadelphia-based program for grades 1-8 that combines sports training with education on financial literacy, nutrition, and bigotry, while also renovating basketball courts in Israel to serve as a hub for friendly competition and camaraderie among local Christians, Muslims, and Jews.
“I sit in a complex of four different communities,” he said. “I think, now more than ever, it’s important to really be that bridge and really bring that opportunity to bring people together to show that we have more similarities than differences.”
Neil Ghosh: Lessons from Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, and more.
Prohuman Foundation advisor Neil Ghosh sat down with Robert Reiss on the CEO Show to discuss his book, Do More Good, and the profound lessons he learned in his meetings with figures like the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa. They explore authenticity, empathy, the common purpose needed to elevate humanity, and strategies for restoring harmony in America.
I’ve been privileged to meet some extraordinary people from all walks of life, from presidents of countries to monks, to religious leaders, spiritual leaders, basketball stars to movie stars, and others. . . . What resonated with me when I met them was not their titles or their credentials. What I took away from every meeting I had, including Mother Teresa, is how each and every one of them were able to transform their purpose into meaningful action.
Scaling Belonging in an Outrage Economy
Tom Fishman joined his fellow Prohuman Foundation advisor Wilk Wilkinson on the Derate The Hate podcast to argue that depolarization efforts remain largely invisible to most Americans and need a strong “air game” of media strategy and storytelling to reach the mainstream. He stressed countering outrage-driven algorithms with hope, surprise, and tangible citizen-led results while addressing loneliness and belonging.
One of the common concerns in the depolarization space is that it seems sort of Kumbaya-ish—‘let’s all get along.’ But depolarization is full of friction. It’s full of tension. It’s full of the things that make great stories. . . . Families. . . torn apart, coming back together. School systems upended. . . political strife. . . These things are fundamentally interesting. And to what end do you harness that interest? Is it to sow fear, or is it to demonstrate the ways in which having. . . a kind of growth mindset that the Prohuman Foundation curriculum is bringing into schools. . . that these things are not just nice-to-haves.
Together, we have made immense progress building a foundation for social harmony. But, we still need your help. A generous donor is matching every contribution to the Prohuman Foundation, dollar for dollar, up to $250,000. Join the movement and double your impact today.
Rich Harwood: The New Civic Path
Rich Harwood joins us on Thursday, January 29 to discuss his book, The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation, where he advocates building community networks and civic groups to restore shared purpose.
Opinions expressed in selected articles do not necessarily reflect those of the Prohuman Foundation. We value diverse perspectives that enrich our understanding of topics close to our mission: to promote the foundational truth that we are all unique individuals, united by our shared humanity.
You wrote: "strategies for restoring harmony in America."
Yes, the Great Sages of the world had one common attitude; An attitude of a willingness to seek pleasing blendings and balancings (to seek Harmony). I was unable to log in to listen to the video, but I do hope that the first strategy is to promote, encourage and foster the use of the word harmony and defining the meaning of the word in our society as the first step to restoring Harmony In Our Communities Across America.