Us vs Them: Why people polarise and how to bring them together (edX)

This course will help you understand why and how polarisation happens. Critically, it will give you the skills to bridge those divides when they occur. It will help you to understand the often-hostile consequences of our natural human instincts to form groups. You’ll leave understanding your role in this phenomenon, and with a grasp of what you can do to master your own behaviour and how you can guide others to find common ground.

Groups and divides appear across our lives: at home, at work, and at play. These divides can help us, individually, collectively and as a society - driving competition, progress, and innovation. But they often drive us apart in ways that are unhelpful, harmful, and in extreme cases, violent. But are they inevitable? Do they serve a purpose? Can they help us? What can we do when divides do more harm than good? What can we do when divisions threaten to break down society?

Drawing on expertise from renowned speakers in business, behavioural science, and politics, we explore the triggers of division that activate these ‘groupish’ instincts, and how they can lead to problematic polarisation. Here it can impact every part of life at work, home, and wider society. Impairing judgements, reducing profits and lowering productivity.

What you'll learn

By completing this course, you will be able to:

- Explain why we polarise creating ingroups and outgroups

- Explain how this conflict extends to other aspects of our lives and why it matters

- Understand what technology may/may not be doing to make polarisation worse

- Develop skills to critically assess complex situations and lead groups to bridge divides

- Comprehend you too play a role in polarisation, often subconsciously

- Become confident in healing/handling divisions in the workplace, at home, and beyond.