December 21, 2022
Our Favorite Findings from 2022
More in Common US
Summary: As the year comes to a close, we reflect on the last 12 months with gratitude for our colleagues, funders, partners, readers, and everyone working to advance our shared goal of building a society where what we have in common is stronger than what divides us.
In 2022 we engaged with more than 20,000 Americans throughout the country to better understand our common ground on notable subjects like veterans’ issues, politics, civil rights, U.S. history and refugee resettlement. Our team shared insights gathered in over a dozen publications that were featured across 300 media outlets.
Below we present our team’s “Favorite MiC Finding” from the past year along with a recommendation on books, shows, podcasts and music that kept us inspired and entertained.
Our Favorite Findings
❄️ Calista Small, Research Associate ❄️
“9 in 10 Americans say that a story of “working hard, doing your part, and passing on a better life to the next generation” describes their family’s experience in America.”
Why: While the contours of family stories are vastly different and are shaped by a myriad of historical factors, Americans share a sense of family resilience. At a time when we feel so divided, looking at our nation through the lens of family might help us see that we all aspire to create a better society for the next generation—a fact that give me a lot of hope.
Recommendation: 📚 All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles.
❄️ Coco Xu, Research Associate ❄️
“79% of Americans believe that “it’s important that every American student learn about the progress made by civil rights activists in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as their struggles and the obstacles they faced.”
💬 Americans’ Memories of the Civil Rights Movements
Why: This history of the civil rights movement is not a linear story of progress, but one filled with contradictions, conflicts, and struggles. It’s comforting to know that most Americans want our students to engage with this history in its full complexity, rather than simply learn about a romanticized version of the past.
Recommendation: 📚 Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So.
❄️ Dan Vallone, U.S. Director ❄️
“76% of Americans say their American identity is important to them.”
Why: This data point underscores the fact that our shared national identity still has the power to unite Americans. Strong majorities of Americans across political identity and demographic backgrounds say their American identity is important to them. At a time when Americans feel like there is so much that divides us, this gives us hope that there is appetite across the country for coming together as Americans.
Recommendation: 📚 The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan by Elliot Ackerman.
❄️ Daniel Yudkin, Associate Director ❄️
“30% of both Democrats and Republicans believe their party should focus more on “individual accountability.”
💬 Politics and Parties
Why: This finding shows how important the concept of personal responsibility is to people across the political spectrum. In America personal responsibility is traditionally associated with hard work and lifting oneself up by the bootstraps. But our focus groups suggest that Americans are thinking more broadly about personal responsibility these days. As one Republican in Americans in Conversation put it, “We have a responsibility to respect each other’s differences.” I think what people are talking about here is a new form of responsibility, one that only emerges in diverse modern societies: the responsibility to get out of your bubble and connect with those who aren’t like you.
Recommendation: 📚 Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. As engaging as a sitcom, as satisfying as a crossword puzzle.
❄️ Fred Duong, Research Fellow ❄️
“When Americans perceive the Supreme Court as not independent from politics, they trust it less. This relationship is even stronger when expectations are accounted for: the larger the gap between expectations and perceptions, the less trustworthy Americans find the Supreme Court.”
💬 Trust in the SCOTUS in the Wake of Roe v Wade
Why: I think this finding shows the importance of how much expectations and perceptions—and the gap between the two—matter.
Recommendations: 📚 An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong. 📺 Reservation Dogs, a funny and moving TV show about Indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma.
❄️ Jazmin Kreimer, Senior Development Associate ❄️
“Most Americans (80%), regardless of political affiliation and racial backgrounds, agree that it is important for students to learn the history of Americans whose racial backgrounds are different from their own.”
💬 Exploring American Identity Part I – Juneteenth
Why: This underscores a common recognition of the value of teaching the impact that Americans of diverse racial backgrounds have had on America throughout history, despite our differences of opinion on how that history should be taught.
Recommendation: 🎶 Hadestown, the musical, I saw it twice this year and fell in love with the soundtrack and Anaiis Mitchell’s song writing.
❄️ Julia Coffin, Senior Associate ❄️
“Americans across party, race, and generations, overwhelming see voting as the most effective way to influence politics.”
💬 Politics and Parties
Why: Despite the enormous challenges facing US democracy such as a proliferation of extremism, political violence and conspiracy theories that question the legitimacy of elections, it is certainly worth highlighting that those holding these beliefs remain in the minority. The majority of Americans, across political, racial, and age divisions still believe that voting offers a hopeful path forward for mobilizing change and further uniting the country.
Recommendation: 📚 Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
❄️ Jordan Wylie, Research Fellow ❄️
“Americans say that voting in local elections is more important when information about local voting norms is framed dynamically (i.e., that the norm is currently changing) compared to when they are framed as static (i.e., just a factual description of the norm).”
Why: This finding really demonstrates the power of norms—when we shift, even slightly, what people think others do, their own beliefs about what they should do also shift.
Recommendation: 📚 Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber. This is an incredible look at the history of debt. It underscores the intentional nature of moralization of debt (though its moralization does not really serve the working-class) and that acts of debt forgiveness have been a critical way to maintain balance between working-class and upper-class people.
❄️ Kate Carney, Chief of Staff ❄️
“72% of Americans think we have more in common than what divides us.”
Why: Despite the narrative that dominates our media, as long as Americans have faith that we have more in common that what divides us, there is hope we can build a more united, less polarized country.
Recommendation: 🎥 The Bikes of Wrath. Five friends attempt to cycle from Oklahoma to California in honor of the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s.
❄️ Mary Bennett Doty, Operations Analyst ❄️
“One quarter of Americans and one third of veterans believe that veterans are less likely to be dangerous than the average American.”
Why: This statistic helps shed light on and against current perception gaps related to veterans and how the veteran community is often seen as more dangerous and/or violent than the average American. This narrative often adds to the division between civilians and military communities, but our research gives me hope that this misconception is less popular than is sometimes portrayed through the media.
Recommendation: 📖 The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. 🎶 Music artist Noah Kahan.
❄️ Michelle Olivares, Communications Associate ❄️
“When Americans were presented with information about how veterans groups support the Afghan Adjustment Act, support increased by 17 percentage points, with 76% of Americans saying they support the bill.”
Why: I appreciate that people consider the opinions of Afghanistan war veterans who were on the ground with this now displaced community. Regardless of what you believe, it’s always admirable when someone is open to learning from someone else’s personal experience and it’s a promising sign of personal growth and respect.
Recommendations: 🎙 Sum of Us with Katherine McGee and 🎙 First Person with Lulu Garcia Navarro. These new podcasts tell stories of communities and people who have to reckon with cultural shifts or personal situations that shape or challenge their perspectives.
❄️ Paul Oshinki, Research Analyst ❄️
“Over 90% of Democrats and Republicans think that “throughout our history, Americans have made incredible achievements and ugly errors.”
Why: This underscores how both sides of the political spectrum are able to recognize that history is not binary, but complex and nuanced; full of tragedy, injustice, achievement, and progress.
Recommendation: 📚 The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman.
❄️ Stephen Hawkins, Research Director ❄️
“Democrats think only 38% of Republicans believe “MLK and Rosa Parks should be taught as examples of Americans who fought for equality.” In reality 93% do. That’s a 55 percentage point difference.”
Why: It’s discouraging to see how little benefit of the doubt we afford members of the opposite party, but encouraging to see how much of a shared foundation we actually share.
Recommendation: 📚 AI 2041: Ten Visions for our Future by Kai Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan. This is a highly readable depiction of how artificial intelligence is likely to be integrated into everyday family, romantic, and professional life around the world twenty years from now. Written by experts in Artificial Intelligence, the book is a mix of fictional vignettes and descriptions of technology.
In 2023, we look forward to connecting with more Americans, learning new perspectives, growing our partnerships, and discovering new areas of common ground. We hope everyone has a peaceful holiday season and a wonderful new year!