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On election night in the United States, we will begin to learn the results of the presidential election. According to recent POLL89% of Democratic voters think democracy will weaken if Trump is elected, while 86% of Republican voters think democracy will weaken if Harris is elected.

Moreover, 76% of voters are worried that there will be violent attempts to overturn the election results.

Obviously, belief formation is a necessary part of the voting process. However, a danger lurks when many members of both sides of the political spectrum become unequivocally convinced that if their favorite candidate loses, great evil will befall this country.

These days, our beliefs are reinforced by the echo chamber social mediamainstream media, some of us lead (political, religious, and other groups) and the lack of respect people show for others who hold opposing views, which extends to refusing to consider the merit of opposing beliefs.

Many families and groups agree to avoid discussing potentially divisive topics as a way to stay cohesive. Unfortunately, this approach does not allow us to come up with compromise solutions.

A danger of forming and maintaining strong beliefs is that we tend to interpret events in a way that is consistent with our beliefs, including by failing to evaluate events that might lead to contrary conclusions. Unfortunately, this tendency hinders our ability to reconsider and potentially change our beliefs. Furthermore, our reactions, including subsequent actions, are then dictated by the beliefs we hold.

Thus, the beliefs of large portions of the electorate that our democracy will be weakened or that violence will occur after the elections may contribute to the manifestation of these events.

For example, when a favored candidate loses, some people might work to undermine the opposing candidate’s authority or engage in violent acts because they believe this will reduce the chances of a weakened democracy. I think we’ve seen actions like this from both sides of the political spectrum in 2016 and 2020.

Unfortunately, actions that undermine our leaders through violence or other means hurt the United States. Therefore, I propose that we supplement our political beliefs with statements of positive reassurance that we should use regardless of the outcome.

“We’ll be fine. We are one resistant people.”

“Challenges give us an opportunity to grow.”

“We wish our president-elect the best of luck as the leader of our country.”

“We can continue to stand up for our beliefs in a positive way that will be heard and affect the future of our country in a good way.”

By using it positive statementswe will be able to counteract some of the negativity that has enveloped many people.

Take away

Our brain can be vaguely likened to a computer that follows its programming. Thus, our brain will act according to the inputs it receives. Each of us has the ability to use positive affirmations to help us improve.

We can begin to restore dialogue with people who hold opposing viewpoints by focusing on the problems we agree need to be solved and discussing possible solutions in a non-judgmental way.

This election season, I urge all of us to fulfill our privilege to vote and channel our reactions in a positive, constructive way, regardless of the outcome.