Summary

The lines of division in US society feel ever present. In the FrameWorks Institute’s research with members of the public, worries about seemingly widening divisions abound as participants across our research projects consistently express a yearning for greater unity. Across groups, people want to find ways of coming together across our differences. Yet they frequently despair about this actually happening. And when probed, they often have very different ideas about what unity should entail.

These issues lie at the heart of pluralism—the active commitment to be in community across our differences. Whether or not people recognize the value of pluralism depends on how people think about fundamental topics like social difference, division, and unity. Understanding the cultural mindsets that people rely on to think about these topics—the deep, taken-for-granted ways of thinking that run below the surface of how we talk—is essential for understanding the barriers to and openings for pluralism.