according to Yale psychologist
The hate that has inspired terrorism, genocide and massacres is one of the most pressing problems facing the world today, and, according to Robert Sternberg, professor of psychology, it can be combated by wisdom.
Sternberg says in the December issue of the Review of General Psychology that treating the symptoms of hate is not a solution. Arresting individuals who commit atrocities, he contends, is ineffective be-cause there are many more people ready to take their place.
"It's kind of like putting a finger in the dike," he says. "You can't treat the symptoms and leave the cause. It is really important as a psychologist to understand what underlies this."
Sternberg, who previously formulated a theory of love, says hate has three components: dehumanization of the hated person or group, passion, and a commitment to continue the hatred. The hatred is perpetuated by stories, or propaganda, he adds.
"Hate groups have a whole construction of why this group is really awful and has to be destroyed. It's like brainwashing," he says. "Amazingly, it sells."
Sternberg says hate can be countered with wisdom -- by using intelligence, creativity and experience for a common good. He devised a curriculum now being tested in New Haven and Milford middle schools that teaches children history from multiple points of view. The students also are taught dialogical thinking, or understanding situations from many points of view, as well as dialectical thinking, or understanding how truth evolves.
-- By Jacqueline Weaver
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