Why do people self‐sacrifice for their country? The roles of identity fusion and empathic concern

PsyCh Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Landabur ◽  
Gonzalo Miguez ◽  
Mario A. Laborda ◽  
María I. Salinas
Keyword(s):  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Identity Fusion

The power of norms to sway fused group members

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winnifred R. Louis ◽  
Craig McGarty ◽  
Emma F. Thomas ◽  
Catherine E. Amiot ◽  
Fathali M. Moghaddam
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Anthropology ◽  
Normative Systems ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Identity Fusion ◽  
Group Members

AbstractWhitehouse adapts insights from evolutionary anthropology to interpret extreme self-sacrifice through the concept of identity fusion. The model neglects the role of normative systems in shaping behaviors, especially in relation to violent extremism. In peaceful groups, increasing fusion will actually decrease extremism. Groups collectively appraise threats and opportunities, actively debate action options, and rarely choose violence toward self or others.

Why People With High Alexithymia Make More Utilitarian Judgments

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-30
Author(s):  
Xiangyi Zhang ◽  
Zhihui Wu ◽  
Shenglan Li ◽  
Ji Lai ◽  
Meng Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Affective Processing ◽  
Process Dissociation ◽  
The Difference

Abstract. Although recent studies have investigated the effect of alexithymia on moral judgments, such an effect remains elusive. Furthermore, moral judgments have been conflated with the moral inclinations underlying those judgments in previous studies. Using a process dissociation approach to independently quantify the strength of utilitarian and deontological inclinations, the present study investigated the effect of alexithymia on moral judgments. We found that deontological inclinations were significantly lower in the high alexithymia group than in the low alexithymia group, whereas the difference in the utilitarian inclinations between the two groups was nonsignificant. Furthermore, empathic concern and deontological inclinations mediated the association between alexithymia and conventional relative judgments (i.e., more utilitarian judgments over deontological judgments), showing that people with high alexithymia have low empathic concern, which, in turn, decreases deontological inclinations and contributes to conventional relative judgments. These findings underscore the importance of empathy and deontological inclinations in moral judgments and indicate that individuals with high alexithymia make more utilitarian judgments over deontological judgments possibly due to a deficit in affective processing.

Identity fusion, radicalization of attitudes and self-verification motives on the collective level of self-definition

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Besta ◽  
Maria Kazmierczak ◽  
Beata Pastwa-Wojciechowska ◽  
Magdalena Blazek
Keyword(s):  
Identity Fusion

State-Empathic Concern Scale

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Johnson ◽  
Michael J. Karcher
Keyword(s):  
Empathic Concern

Exploring the role of identity fusion and group identification in predicting parochialism amongst Indonesian Islamic groups

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Michael Kavanagh ◽  
Susilo Wibisono ◽  
Rohan Kapitány ◽  
Whinda Yustisia ◽  
Idhamsyah Eka Putra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Group Identification ◽  
Control Sample ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Identity Fusion ◽  
Beliefs And Practice ◽  
Fusion Theory

Indonesia is the most populous Islamic country and as such is host to a diverse range of Islamic beliefs and practices. Here we examine how the diversity of beliefs and practices among Indonesian Muslims relates to group bonding and parochialism. In particular, we examine the predictive power of two distinct types of group alignment, group identification and identity fusion, among individuals from three Sunni politico-religious groups - a fundamentalist group (PKS), a moderate group (NU), and a control sample of politically unaffiliated citizens. Fundamentalists were more fused to targets than moderates or citizens, but contrary to fusion theory, we found across all groups, that group identification (not fusion) better predicted parochialism, including willingness to carry out extreme pro-group actions. We discuss how religious beliefs and practice impact parochial attitudes, as well as the implications for theoretical models linking fusion to extreme behaviour.

Premature Release of the Prime

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Daniel Batson
Keyword(s):  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Altruistic Motivation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Physical Exposure ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
Premature Release

The third new possibility returned attention to the first egoistic hypothesis: remove–empathy. Perhaps people feeling high empathy think that even if they escape physical exposure to the need, they will continue to feel empathic concern. If so, psychological escape is still difficult, and the results previously reported (see Chapter 4) are as consistent with remove–empathy as with the empathy–altruism hypothesis. Contrary to this possibility, some research suggested physical escape did provide psychological escape in the experiments in Chapter 4. Further, Eric Stocks conducted two experiments that manipulated psychological escape directly, and results of each supported the empathy–altruism hypothesis, not remove–empathy. Based on these data, it was necessary to reject the last of the three new possibilities. Left with no plausible egoistic account of the empathy–helping relationship—this time, nobody else had one either—there was no alternative but to conclude that empathic concern produces altruistic motivation. Our search was over.

Some Good News

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Daniel Batson
Keyword(s):  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Close Relationships ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Good News ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
Business Negotiations

Empathy-induced altruism provides benefits for (a) the person in need, (b) other similar people, and (c) the person feeling empathic concern. Specifically, there is evidence that it can produce the following: more and better help for those in need; less aggression toward them; less derogation and blaming of victims of injustice; increased cooperation in conflict situations (business negotiations, political conflicts, and tensions between students in school); less negative attitudes toward stigmatized groups; increased willingness to help these groups; more sensitive and responsive care in close relationships; increased happiness and self-esteem; less stress; more meaning in life; and greater longevity. The list of benefits of empathy-induced altruism for which there is at least preliminary evidence is impressive. Although not a panacea, it can be a powerful force for good.

A Scientific Search for Altruism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Daniel Batson
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Altruistic Motivation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Past Half Century ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Past Half

This book provides an example of how the scientific method can be used to address a fundamental question about human nature. For centuries—indeed for millennia—the egoism–altruism debate has echoed through Western thought. Egoism says that the motivation for everything we do, including all of our seemingly selfless acts of care for others, is to gain one or another self-benefit. Altruism, while not denying the force of self-benefit, says that under certain circumstances we can care for others for their sakes, not our own. Over the past half-century, social psychologists have turned to laboratory experiments to provide a scientific resolution of this human nature debate. The experiments focused on the possibility that empathic concern—other-oriented emotion elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of someone in need—produces altruistic motivation to remove that need. With carefully constructed experimental designs, these psychologists have tested the nature of the motivation produced by empathic concern, determining whether it is egoistic or altruistic. This series of experiments has provided an answer to a fundamental question about what makes us tick. Framed as a detective story, the book traces this scientific search for altruism through the numerous twists and turns that led to the conclusion that empathy-induced altruism is indeed part of our nature. It then examines the implications of this conclusion—negative implications as well as positive—both for our understanding of who we are as humans and for how we might create a more humane society.

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