Bridging the (Brexit) divide: Effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization

The European Union Brexit referendum has divided the British electorate, with high levels of animosity between those who affiliate with the Remain side (Remainers) and the Leave side (Leavers) of the debate. Previous research has shown that a brief befriending meditation reduces affective polarization among Democrats and Republicans in the United States, but the results have not been replicated in a non-US sample and the psychological mechanisms underlying the effects have yet to be examined. The present study therefore used a post-test only randomized controlled design to investigate the effects of a brief befriending meditation on affective polarization among Remainers and Leavers (n = 922). Results showed that participants in the befriending condition scored modestly lower on affective polarization than participants in the attentional control condition (t(921) = 2.17, p = .030, d = 0.14) and that perceived commonality with the political outgroup mediated the effects. In sum, audio-guided befriending practices may be a highly scalable means to reduce high levels of affective polarization through increasing perceived commonality.