Resistance to Change

1
Resistance to Change

• Michelle Vitale
• Jonathan Welch

2
Definition of the Obstacle

• Resistance to change limits our capacity to
  critically understand the differences between us
  as individuals, thereby preventing us from
  finding the similarities among us as a community.

3
Impact of the Obstacle

• While it may feel that alternatives to our views
  threaten the validity of our life experience and
  our future decisions regarding family, religion,
  and personal politics, avoiding the consideration
  of differences creates divisions in our
  communities of place our neighborhoods, work,
  and schools.
• As a result, we accept, confront, or side-step
  the politics that govern us in each of these
  places.

4
Topics of Discussion

• Red Flags
• Experiences
• Analysis
• Building Bridges

5
Red Flags

• The way we react to new information is critical
  to overcoming resistance to change. The
  following not only pits us against each other,
  but can endanger the health and human rights of
  our neighbors.
• Immediate strong and emotional reactions, termed
  by psychologists as reaction formation.
• An obstinate belief that our truth of experience
  supersedes contradictory facts, referred to as
  primary certitude.

6
Experience Tragedy

• Two weeks ago, my uncle Dakshesh was murdered.
  His death was the result of a hate crime at the
  hands of Skinheads. This tragedy has rocked the
  family beyond the loss of a brother, uncle, and
  friend. Fear, anger, and hurt ripples through
  the community into our everyday lives. What can
  be said to illuminate such a nonsensical
  heartbreak?

7
Experience Ignorance

• When I was a little younger and immature, I had
  an emotional reaction towards the homeless. My
  ignorance led me to believe that all homeless
  were drug addicts because that is where my father
  told me I would end up if I participated in drug
  use. While a large number of homeless are, in
  fact, ex-drug addicts or current drug addicts,
  some just fell on hard times and are fighting to
  get back to where they want to be. I now
  understand I was thinking in terms of reaction
  formation. When confronted with similar
  suggestions in the future, I feel I am better
  equipped to form better beliefs based on what I
  learned from this essay in addition, I will be
  able to have more meaningful conversations with
  people rather than just butting heads over whose
  opinion sounds better.

8
A Political Analysis

• One week ago, National Public Radio featured a
  discussion among 14 citizens on the role that
  personal experience with race will play in the
  casting of presidential votes in the upcoming
  election.
• Post an emotional discussion, all 7 people of
  color stated a vote for Obama. Their primary
  reason was sharing a sense of identity.
• 6 of the 7 people identifying as ethnically
  white, will vote for McCain. Aside from
  identifying as Republican was stated distrust of
  Obama resulting from his step-fathers Muslim
  heritage.

9
Resisting Changes in the Media

• Over the last couple of years, air quality, and
  more specifically climate changes on earth, have
  been a hot topic in the media. Unfortunately,
  many people have immediate responses to counter
  the facts presented.
• Even though scientific evidence continues to
  signal that immediate lifestyle changes are
  needed to reverse the effects of global warming,
  people react as if they have a right (morally) to
  expend as much energy and burn as much fuel as
  they wish because all that research is
  illegitimate. This is a classic example of
  primary certitude.

10
Building Bridges

• Humanity, the quality of our being and
  experiences that are common to everyone, such as
  love, hurt, anger, loss, can be the bridge
  between our differences and heal the wounds
  inflicted by resistance to change.
• Despite the realities that arise from our fears
  of change we can, in fact, preserve our sense of
  self concept and be a part of an inclusive
  community by working to understand ourselves and
  others through our humanity.