Can we work it out? Affordances and constraints for cultivating perspective-taking in digital contexts

Background: The rising importance of digital technologies in everyday communication has played a key role in processes of political polarization and rising mistrust and intolerance. We suggest this crisis could be productively conceptualized as a crisis in perspective-taking—the tendency and competency to actively consider others' mental and emotional states. Objectives: This conceptual paper sets out to propose a theoretical framework that identifies the key affordances of digital platforms for promoting perspective-taking in formal educational settings (K-12 and higher education): (1) connecting diverse individuals, (2) simulating interactions with other perspectives and (3) supporting the articulation and sharing of perspectives. Methods: Rather than summarizing the state of existing research, this paper aims to offer a novel conceptualization that allows unpacking the interplay between research on perspective-taking and work on the affordances and constraints of digital media. We identify the three key affordances outlined above, exemplifying them by focusing on one type of digital tool and comparing them along two axes: (i) the depth vs. diversity of interactions it supports and (ii) its cultivation of intergroup perspective-taking vs. interpersonal perspective-taking. Results and Conclusions: This framework, we argue, articulates the advantages and limitations of digital tools towards engagement in perspective-taking, while providing a conceptual roadmap, and practical considerations, for researchers and practitioners interested in cultivating digitally mediated perspective-taking in educational settings.