Rex Kerr
Jul 19, 2024

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Well, there's a psychological effect that pretty much is exactly what I'm saying (see overview at https://medium.com/homeland-security/the-social-psychology-of-the-backfire-effect-locking-up-the-gears-of-your-mind-a79d4e6e8061).

But does it matter?

Hostile rhetoric deepens polarization in general (here's a particularly clear cross-country analysis in the political realm: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379424000039, and here's another focused specifically on the impact of hostile internet interactions: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1940161217740697).

If someone has an entrenched belief, establishing some degree of rapport or respect has been shown to be an important component, in addition to appropriate rebuttal strategies (see e.g. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-art-of-critical-thinking/202309/how-to-engage-an-entrenched-believer).

Positive, compassionate interactions with women, and supportive interactions with men seem to be features of exiting the manosphere (see e.g. https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2024/07/04/why-men-enter-and-exit-the-manosphere-by-a-psychologist/).

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Rex Kerr
Rex Kerr

Written by Rex Kerr

One who rejoices when everything is made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Sayer of things that may be wrong, but not so bad that they're not even wrong.

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