Why our brain divides people into friends and foes

"They" versus "us"

Our brain is “programmed” to divide the whole world into “us” and “aliens”. Scientists have traced this using functional magnetic resonance imaging, a technique that displays the activity of different areas of the brain under certain conditions. The participants were shown photographs of faces for 50 milliseconds (this is the twentieth of a second), and even in such a short time the brain managed to divide them into groups A review of neuroimaging studies of race-related prejudice: does amygdala response reflect threat? …

When the faces of people of a different race were shown, the amygdala was activated, which is responsible for the occurrence of fear, anxiety and aggression.

In addition, the spindle-shaped cells of the cortex, the area responsible for face recognition, were less activated at the sight of "alien" faces. Because of this, we are less able to remember the faces of representatives of races other than ours.

Perhaps, emotions play a primary role in this division. “I don’t know exactly what, but something is wrong with them,” we think at first, and only then our consciousness generates small facts and plausible fictions explaining why we hate these “others”.

How does it manifest

We easily forgive the misdeeds and sins of the members of our group. But if "strangers" do something wrong, we believe that this reflects their nature - they have always been and will be so. And when one of "us" is wrong, we refer to extenuating circumstances.

Moreover, different types of “aliens” evoke different feelings (and different neurobiological reactions) in us. Some we see threatening, aggressive, untrustworthy, others seem ridiculous to us and become the subject of ridicule.

But sometimes "they" can also be disgusting to us. This reaction is associated with the insular lobe of the brain. It protects mammals from food poisoning by triggering a gag reflex in response to the taste or smell of rotten food. But in people it causes not only physical, but also moral disgust. When we hear about vicious deeds or see shocking images, the insular lobe Both of Us Disgusted in My Insula: The Common Neural Basis of Seeing and Feeling Disgust is activated. … Also, a similar reaction occurs when we encounter certain groups of "outsiders", such as drug addicts.

How to deal with it

Make contact

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

Find a positive example and turn on empathy

To get rid of stereotypes, think of someone from the group of "outsiders" who enjoys universal love and respect, for example, some kind of celebrity. Or put yourself in the shoes of someone from another group and think about what problems they might have. This will change your perception.

Don't be one size fits all

Think about an individual, not an entire group.

It is impossible to completely recover from the division of people into two groups (unless, of course, you do not have an amygdala). But it is not all that bad.

Do not equalize all the representatives of the group, present the "stranger" as a separate person.

Remember, what you think is rational is often a simple juggling of facts. Focus on shared goals. And put yourself in the shoes of others to understand how they are feeling.