Inspiring News Stories
Excerpts of Highly Inspiring News Stories in Major Media

Below are one-paragraph excerpts of highly inspiring news stories from the major media. Links are provided to the original stories on their media websites. If any link fails to function, click here. The inspiring news story summaries most recently posted here are listed first. You can explore the same list with the most inspiring stories listed first. See also a concise list providing headlines and links to a number of highly inspiring stories. May these articles inspire us to find ever more ways to love and support each other and all around us to be the very best we can be.

According to a new study by researchers at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, both Democrats and Republicans significantly underestimate the diversity of policy attitudes within their own party and among the opposing party. This discovery challenges existing beliefs about polarization and suggests that reducing these misperceptions could ease political tensions. Previous research has suggested that Democrats and Republicans consistently overestimate how radical the other party is, always believing that the other party is much more radical than it actually is. However, this study suggests that the greater error in Democrats' and Republicans' perceptions is how diverse they perceive the parties to be. The researchers also measured how participants felt toward the other party and how comfortable they were socializing with them. The more a participant perceived the other side to hold diverse attitudes, the more participants liked the other party and felt comfortable socializing with them. Perceiving the other party as having more diverse attitudes was also associated with lesser concern that the party supports violating democratic norms. "Our research suggests that fostering awareness of the diversity within political parties could reduce partisan hostility and create space for more constructive dialogue," says Lelkes, co-director of the Polarization Research Lab.

Note: Explore more positive stories like this on healing social division.