Resources for Finding Your Balance During a Stressful Election

According to a new report from the American Psychological Association, 7 in 10 Americans say the 2024 U.S. presidential election is a significant source of stress in their lives. More than three-quarters say they’re stressed about the future of the United States.

We’ve gathered articles, videos, and podcast episodes from Greater Good that offer tips and resources to help you manage that stress and work toward a more stable, collaborative society.

Click to jump to a section:

Managing election stress
Building a better democracy
Bridging differences
Resources for parents and educators

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  Gaining Perspective on Negative Events

  Take a step back and analyze your feelings without ruminating

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Managing election stress

• Eight Questions That Can Help You Survive Election Stress: Americans are stressed out by their presidential election. These questions will help you check in with yourself—and perhaps boost your resilience.
• Seven Ways to Cope With Uncertainty: What should we do when everything feels so out of control?
• Eight Ways You Can Feel More Hopeful—Even in Dark Times: A new book makes the case that hope is the right response when we are facing difficulties in our lives.
• How Self-Compassion Can Help You Deal With Stress: According to new research, self-compassion may help people use more effective coping strategies and in turn feel better.
• Five Keys to Managing Intrusive Thoughts: Stuck in rumination? Here are some ways to break the cycle and move forward.
• How to Transform Stress Into Courage and Connection: Stress doesn’t always lead to fight-or-flight, says Kelly McGonigal. It can also activate brain systems that help us connect with other people.

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  Shared Identity

  How to encourage generosity by finding commonalities between people

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Building a better democracy

• Why Is Democracy Worth Defending?: Here is the research-based case for majority rule and minority protections.
• Americans Still Have Hope for Democracy, Despite Everything: Americans remain hopeful about democracy despite fears of its demise—and are acting on that hope.
• Research-Tested Ways to Preserve Democracy: A new “megastudy” tested 25 tools and practices that can help counter anti-democratic attitudes and partisan animosity in politics.
• How to Restore Trust in U.S. Election Results: Faith in the U.S. electoral system has been declining, which undermines voting, political participation, and a healthy democracy.
• How Inequality Keeps People from Voting: Research suggests that more economic and racial equality means more voting—and more voting means more equality.
• What Are the Solutions to Political Polarization?: Social psychology reveals what creates conflict among groups and how they can come together.
• What Does It Mean to Be an Engaged Citizen?: Eric Liu discusses how to foster a shared civic identity in today’s polarized America.

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  Bridging Differences Playbook

  Learn research-based strategies to promote positive dialogue and understanding

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Bridging differences

• 10 Tips for Getting People to Talk Across Political Differences: Our experience shows that people with widely different viewpoints on big issues can have discussions, find agreement, and collaborate.
• Eight Keys to Bridging Our Differences: 
There are many misconceptions about bridging differences, so we consulted with researchers and practitioners to clarify what it is—and what it isn’t.
• Five Ways to Have Better Conversations About Immigration: Some suggestions for moving forward when a difficult conversation seems to hit a dead end.
• Three Steps to Finding Agreement on America’s Toughest Problems: Our work suggests that collaborative problem solving is possible among people who strongly disagree with each other on important issues.
• How Talking About Abortion Can Help Opposing Sides: When people who disagree have dialogues about abortion, it helps build respect, understanding, and bridges to policy change.
• How to Talk to People You Disagree With (The Science of Happiness Podcast): We learn techniques for working across the aisle without compromising our values from a Democratic politician in one of the most conservative states, Oklahoma.
• Six Tips for Loving Your Enemies: Choosing love over hate can be difficult, but ultimately it may be the path to healing for ourselves and our society.

Resources for parents and educators

• Seven Tips for Talking With Kids About Politics: Half of American parents don’t discuss politics with their children. But research suggests parenting plays a crucial role in political views and participation.
• Can Social-Emotional Skills Strengthen Democracy?: A new study links student participation in SEL programs to voter participation later in life.
• How to Help Students Learn to Listen to Each Other’s Stories: Interview-based storytelling projects can build active listening skills that increase empathy and foster relationships.
• One Skill That Can Help Students Bridge Political Divides: Here’s how one teacher has tried to help students envision better outcomes for everyone, a skill researchers call “moral imagination.”
• One Skill That Can Help Students Bridge Political Divides: The story of a group of sixth graders learning to bridge political divides after the U.S. election.
• How to Talk With Your Kids About Donald Trump: The GOP candidate is creating fear and confusion in children, especially kids of color. Here are three suggestions for talking with kids about race and racism in the media.
• 15 Practices to Help Kids Bridge Differences: Educators and parents can help students engage across differences at school, in their homes, and throughout their community.
• How to Inspire Students to Become Better Citizens: Educators can help boost civic engagement among young people.