Jane Fulton Have you ever thought about the way hate speech affects you on a biological level? Although there it is difficult to prove an immediate link between incendiary speech and violent behavior, there is no doubt a connection. The human mind is easily influenced by the actions and behavior of people around them, and hatred emanating from people in power has an especially potent effect. Scientists know from a Polish study conducted in 2017 that the more exposure a person has to hate speech, the more prejudiced they become. Essentially, the more often people hear hateful things from others, the more likely they are to believe those things and take a stance contrary to a marginalized group. The more hate speech a person hears, the more common it is, and people stop caring about this behavior that is typically socially inappropriate. The more they are exposed to it, the less people are bothered by this verbal aggression and less likely to defend victims of bigotry. There is concrete evidence scientists have found in the brain for such a connection. When someone listens to hate speech, a part of the brain called the amygdala is activated. Hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine course through the brain. These chemicals are called stress hormones, and they create fear, anger, and aggression in the brain. This can cause people to act with hostility after being exposed to hate speech. Mina Cikara, a psychologist at Harvard, conducted a study that found that when people have distrust of an outgroup, a group of people that an individual does not identify with, impulsive anger and violence increases. When individuals are threatened by out-groups, for example, facing economic struggles such as unemployment, this observation is made even more clear. Cikara states that: “when a group is put on the defensive and made to feel threatened, they begin to believe that anything, including violence, is justified.” Feeling threatened makes it easier for people to think of others as less than human and have little compassion. This all around leads to decreased social cognition, or the ability to put yourself in another’s shoes. Such feelings, or lack thereof, often lead to violent behavior and speech. In a study done in 2011, it was found that people often lack empathy towards homeless people and drug addicts. Feelings of disgust were activated in the brain in an area called the insula. Dr. Fiske, who conducted the study, said: “Both science and history suggest that people will nurture and act on their prejudices in the worst ways when these people are put under stress, pressured by peers, or receive approval from authority figures to do so.” We, as socially cognisant beings, need to be aware of the words and actions of those around us and how they impact the way we think. Hate speech, violent behavior, and hostility are unfortunately a part of our daily life, and we need to stop them from becoming even more commonplace. Knowing that hearing these words physically affects your brain is an important step, and we need to figure out a way to make these actions unacceptable again. Image: https://www.nationofchange.org/2017/09/09/hate-speech-not-free-speech/ Friedman, R. A. (2018, October 31). The Neuroscience of Hate Speech. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/opinion/caravan-hate-speech-bowers-sayoc.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Psychologyand Psychologists&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=search&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection
1 Comment
Winnie
1/14/2019 10:32:12 am
This is a very intriguing topic, Jane! The problem is apparent, but it was very interesting to here the biological side of things. You very clearly did a ton of research to be able to explain why the mental state is affected by hate comments. I also think you did a great job with bringing multiple studies into the article. Seeing as this is a major issue in the media age, this topic is very relevant and informative!
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