The war for kindness : building empathy in a fractured world / Jamil Zaki.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zaki, Jamil, 1980- author.

Contributor:

Class of 1932 Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Empathy.

Kindness.

Social psychology.

Physical Description:

261 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Crown, [2019]

Summary:

"A Stanford psychologist offers a bold new understanding of empathy, and shows how we can expand our circle of care, even in these divisive times Empathy is in short supply. Isolation and tribalism are rampant. We struggle to understand people who aren't just like us, but find it easy to hate them. Studies show that we are less caring than we were even thirty years ago. In 2006, Barack Obama said that the United States is suffering from an "empathy deficit." Since then, things only seem to have gotten worse. It doesn't have to be this way. In this groundbreaking book, Jamil Zaki argues that empathy is not a fixed trait--something we're born with or not--but rather a skill that we can all strengthen through effort. Drawing on both classic and cutting-edge research, including experiments from his own lab, Zaki shows how we can harness this new mindset to overcome toxic cultural divisions. He also tells the stories of people who are living these principles--fighting for kindness in the most difficult of circumstances. We meet a former neo-Nazi who is now helping extract people from hate groups, ex-prisoners discussing novels with the judge who sentenced them, Washington police officers changing their culture to decrease violence among their ranks, and NICU nurses fine-tuning their empathy so that they don't succumb to burnout. Written with clarity and passion, The War for Kindness is an inspiring call to action. The future of our society may depend on whether we accept the challenge"-- Provided by publisher.

"A Stanford psychologist offers a bold new understanding of empathy, revealing it to be a skill, not a fixed trait, and showing, through science and stories, how we can all become more empathetic"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Surprising Mobility of Human Nature p. 17

Chapter 2 Choosing Empathy p. 33

Chapter 3 Hatred Versus Contact p. 52

Chapter 4 The Stories We Tell p. 74

Chapter 5 Caring Too Much p. 94

Chapter 6 Kind Systems p. 119

Chapter 7 The Digital Double Edge p. 144.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [197]-251) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1932 Fund.

ISBN:

9780451499240

0451499247

9780451499257

0451499255

OCLC:

1060196646