Presented at ACBS World Conference 13, Berlin, Germany, 2015
In this modern era, it’s essential that we develop new cultural practices that can guide us in developing a broader perspective on our own lives and the community around us. In particular, flexible perspective taking can help foster a greater sense of compassion toward self and other, reduce objectification, and build stronger, more nurturing communities. Research on social emotions, such as shame and compassion, can also help guide us in how to foster increased empathy, give voice to the oppressed, and increase connection. In shame, we feel separate from others and our sense of belonging is threatened. We become self-focused and tend to fall into hierarchical and competitive ways of relating to others. Compassion links us to a care giving system that helps us to focus on caring for others (and ourselves) and more nurturing ways of responding. This address will discuss research on social emotion and contextual behavioral science and highlight applications of these ideas.