Moments in history become milestones. We remember them because they mark a before and after. They alter the direction of nations, influence economies, and redefine political landscapes.
But some events leave a quieter legacy. They change how we experience the world – and how we experience one another.
Brexit was one of those moments.
Whether you voted to leave or remain isn't the question I want to explore. Instead, I'm interested in something less obvious.
Can an event like Brexit alter the emotional climate we all live in?
Can it also change how we relate to each other, how we see ourselves, and how we move through the world?
Most psychologists would argue that our core personality traits remain relatively stable throughout adulthood. Whether you are naturally optimistic or cautious, outgoing or reserved, these characteristics endure.
Behaviour, however, is different. It responds to the environment around us, and environments can change dramatically.
This is where Brexit left its greatest mark. Its effects continue to be felt in ways that reach beyond politics and economics.
Long before the referendum, many of us assumed that life would continue in the ways we were used to. Life felt familiar. There was a sense of predictability, even if we rarely stopped to notice it. Brexit interrupted that certainty. It introduced years of political debate, public disagreement, and uncertainty about Britain's future.
Regardless of where you stood politically, uncertainty became part of everyday life.
Research from the London School of Economics has explored how Brexit reshaped social identity and deepened political polarisation. Many people came to identify not simply as individuals with different political opinions, but as "Leavers" or "Remainers" – identities that carried assumptions about values, education, geography, age and even character. As those identities strengthened, conversations often became less about understanding and more about defending positions.
Psychology offers a wider perspective on what prolonged uncertainty can do. Although the Brexit research doesn't focus directly on wellbeing, psychological research more broadly suggests that living with uncertainty can heighten emotional reactions, increase vigilance, encourage caution, and make reassurance feel harder to find. When uncertainty persists, people naturally seek stability in different ways.
This is one reason why everyday interactions can sometimes feel more strained than they once did.
Brexit also raised a question many people had never consciously considered before:
Who are we?
Not simply as individuals, but as a nation.
Identity became central to public conversation. It became easier to place people into categories than to understand the complexity of their individual experiences.
Perhaps this is one of the challenges of any deeply divisive event. We stop listening to understand and begin listening to defend. The conversation shifts from curiosity to certainty, from dialogue to debate. Perhaps it is no coincidence that we see these same patterns reflected in public life and politics.
Trust can become another casualty. Trust in institutions. Trust in political leaders. Trust in experts. And sometimes, trust in each other.
Once trust begins to erode, it is difficult to restore. We become more sceptical, more guarded, and less willing to believe that disagreement can exist without hostility.
Yet Brexit didn't happen in isolation.
Around the same time, social media was reshaping public conversation. The Covid-19 pandemic tested resilience. Economic uncertainty affected communities across the world.
In many ways, Brexit became part of a much larger story – one in which rapid change challenged our sense of stability and our sense of belonging.
This is why, for many, it can feel as though the mood of society has changed. Not because people have become fundamentally different, but because the emotional landscape we all live in has shifted. After years of uncertainty, constant debate and competing voices, it can feel as though there is simply more emotional noise around us, making it harder to find calm, perspective and connection.
Psychology reminds us that while personality is relatively stable, context matters. The environments in which we live influence how we think, behave and relate to others. When uncertainty becomes prolonged, when identities harden, and when trust is repeatedly tested, our interactions inevitably change.
So while Brexit may not have changed our personalities – it changed the emotional weather.
And just as the weather influences how we dress, where we walk, and whether we step outside at all, our emotional climate shapes how open we are, how much we trust, and how willing we are to connect with those whose experiences differ from our own.
History will continue to debate the economic and political consequences of Brexit for many years to come. But perhaps there is another conversation worth having – one about the quieter changes. The ones that cannot be measured in trade agreements or election results, but in our willingness to listen, to understand, and to recognise ourselves in one another.
Because ultimately, societies are built not only on policies and institutions, but on relationships.
And when those relationships change, so do we.
Perhaps the real question is not whether Brexit changed us, but what kind of emotional climate we want to create from here.
If uncertainty has made us more cautious, more divided or less trusting, then perhaps the opposite is also true: that small acts of curiosity, patience and understanding can begin to change the weather. History may shape the world we inherit, but the way we choose to relate to one another will shape the world we leave behind.
Source: London School of Economics (LSE) https://www.lse.ac.uk
