He believed that in society we are exposed to a variety of damaging emotional processes that include sexism, ethnic prejudice, and social class positions. It depends on whether we are differentiated or merged, which will predict our outcome. The level of functioning in a family determines the quality of emotional processing in society. The Fundamentals of Family Theory (nd) state: “When differentiation predominates, social improvements and constructive developments follow: when fusion predominates, a society is seen as stagnant, manifesting destructive forms of change. In times of high anxiety, fusion predominates and people are pushed to make tension-filled short-term decisions rather than more deliberate long-term decisions. Responsible decision-making is more evident in societies where forces of differentiation are more prevalent than forces of unity (p..