In our remarkably and perhaps unprecedented divisive, uncivil, and polarized times, the simple wisdom and elegance of the Golden Rule speaks volumes. In a nutshell, the Golden Rules states that we should treat others as we wish to be treated. All of the major religious traditions and most ethical principles underscore and support this rule and it is not tied to any particular religious, political, or moral persuasion. It is quite simple yet appears to be harder and harder to do if one pays attention to daily news reports, listens to our current political and cultural rancor, and reads online commentaries and reviews about just about anything, anybody, and any product or service.
Somehow we have lost our moral compass in our culture if we can’t all agree to treat others as we wish to be treated. Certainly, reasonable people can fiercely disagree about a lot of things including political and other strategies to make our community better. But disagreeing about things doesn’t mean that one has to be disagreeable, rude, uncivil, or violent. Treating others with respect, compassion, and even reverence would certainly be nice to achieve but at a minimum treating others as we wish to be treated should be generally easy to do and frankly, a no brainer. Sadly and often tragically, it is not.
On a practical level, psychological research theories such as reciprocity underscores the many benefits and wisdom of the Golden Rule. Reciprocity theory suggests that we instinctively treat others as we are treated by them. And so, people are most likely to mirror our social behavior for both good and bad. Thus, if you want people to behave better you ought to behave better first. Modeling the behavior you want is more likely to achieve the behavior that you desire from others.
So, perhaps we all need to take a deep breath, remind ourselves of and embrace the Golden Rule and reciprocity theory, and try to incorporate these approaches into all that we do and say...even with people we tend not to agree with or don't like very much. Regardless of our views and beliefs about the many important matters of the day this lesson should be an easy one to grasp and implement for all. If enough people try to do so it will be easier for all of us to achieve.
Are you in?
So, what do you think?
Copyright 2018 Thomas G. Plante, PhD, ABPP