This document provides guidance on processing election results by focusing on how the brain responds to change. It discusses focusing on respecting others' beliefs, keeping an open mind about potential outcomes, exerting control over your local community, connecting with others across political lines, and ensuring fairness locally. The overall message is that when facing change through elections, people should focus on bringing more positivity to their communities through relationship-building and civic engagement.

1. How to Process Election Results
TheWayYourBrainProcessesChange
STATUS.
Status is about
relative importance,
‘pecking order’ and
seniority. We all hold
a representation of
status in relation to
others.
Losing an election
that won’t cycle back
around for 4 years is
hard if you feel
relegated by the side
that won.
Focus on how you
role model your
beliefs to earn the
respect of others.
CERTAINTY.
The brain is a
pattern-recognition
machine that is
constantly trying to
predict the near
future. There’s
actually a range of
certainty. Bookend
the best case and
worst case
scenarios and know
it’s likely not at either
extreme.
Focus more on the
winning candidate’s
actual behaviors, not
unproven outcomes.
AUTONOMY.
Autonomy is the
perception of
exerting control over
one’s environment; a
sensation of having
choices.
With your candidate
not taking the reigns
you will feel like a
passenger on a
rudderless ship.
Focus on what you
can control and what
you can influence in
your community.
RELATEDNESS.
Relatedness is a desire
for belonging and
involves deciding
whether others are ‘in’ or
‘out’ of a social group.
Whether someone is
friend, or foe.
After the election how
can we as a community
“zoom out” and identify
as a larger group, as one
country with liberty and
justice for all Americans?
.
Focus on how to connect
across the aisle with foes
and how to connect more
productively with friends.
FAIRNESS.
Fair exchanges are
intrinsically rewarding,
independent of other
factors. The need for
fairness may be part of
the explanation as to
why people experience
internal rewards for
doing volunteer work to
improve their
community; it is a sense
of decreasing the
unfairness in the world.
Focus on how you can
ensure greater fairness
in your local community.