Independent and Interdependent? Agentic and Communal? Self-construals of People Fused with a Group

Abstract

Título: ¿Independiente e interdependiente? ¿Agencial y comunal? Autoconceptos de personas fusionadas con un grupo. Resumen: Se llevaron a cabo cuatro estudios para examinar cómo la auto identidad y la fusión grupal se relacionan con los autoconceptos, la autopercepción de rasgos agentes y comunales y el deseo de autocomprobación grupal. En el estudio 1 (N1 = 244), se examinó la fusión de identidad en relación con el país y el género, mientras que en los estudios 2 (N2 = 164) y 3 (N3 = 166) las relaciones de los participantes con los grupos sociales importantes y elegidos por ellos analizado. El Estudio 4 (N4 = 796) incluyó a los fanáticos del fútbol, y describieron sus relaciones con otros fanáticos. Los resultados mostraron que la alta fusión de identidad fue descrita por (a) los altos resultados para autoevaluación independiente e interdependiente, excepto cuando se consideró la fusión con el país (estudios 1, 2 y 4); (b) simultáneamente, alta agencia y comunión (estudios 3 y 4); y (c) un fuerte deseo de autovaloración en los niveles colectivos y personales de autodescripción. Palabras clave: Autoconceptos, procesos grupales, yo, identidad social, identidad fusión.Abstract: Four studies were conducted to examine how self and group identity fusion is related to self-construals, self-perception of agentic and communal traits, and the desire for self-and group verification. In study 1 (N1 = 244), identity fusion in relation to country and gender was examined, while in studies 2 (N2 = 164), and 3 (N3 = 166) participants' relations with social groups important to and chosen by them were analyzed. Study 4 (N4 = 796) included football fans, and they described their relations with other fans. The results showed that high identity fusion was described by (a) high results for interdependent and independent selfconstrual, except when fusion with country was considered (studies 1, 2, and 4); (b) simultaneously high agency and communion (studies 3 and 4); and (c) a strong desire for self-verification at the collective and personal levels of self-description.

When Social Interaction Backfires: Frequent Social Interaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated With Decreased Well-Being and Higher Panic Buying

“…We point out that low internal consistencies of the interdependent self-construal measure we found in both studies (Study 1:0.56, Study 2:0.62) should be given caution. Previous studies have also reported relatively low internal consistencies gauging interdependent self-construal (e.g., alphas = 0.63,0.64; Rohmann et al, 2012 ; Besta, 2018 ) alarming researchers for conducting similar future studies using such a measure. Despite the low Cronbach’s alphas, the interdependent self-construal highly correlated with the inter-personal closeness measure in our design (Study 1: r = 0.3 Study 2: r = 0.32) to form a composite social connectedness variable.…”

On the way to fusion through the pilgrims’ route: Factors that maintain identity fusion in collective rituals

“…It is described as a visceral feeling of unity with the group in which the personal self and the social self merge; thus, the boundary between both identities becomes permeable. The result is a strong union within the group, even though the identity of the personal self and the social self maintain a certain degree of independence (Besta, 2017).…”

Indicators of Identity and Psychological Well-Being in Immigrant Population

“…As a construct, identity fusion is associated with relational ties (feelings toward individual group members) and collective ties (feelings toward the group; see, e.g., Gómez et al, 2011aGómez et al, , 2020, with which a perceived connection and reciprocal strength are created between personal identity and group identity (Gómez et al, 2011a;Besta, 2018). Because of this strong unity with the group, fused individuals represent other group members as if they were their relatives (Whitehouse and Lanman, 2014;Swann et al, 2014a;Robert et al, 2019), this feeling of close bonding would be one of the main motivators of extreme pro-group behavior (see, e.g., Buhrmester and Swann, 2015;Fredman et al, 2015;Swann and Buhrmester, 2015).…”