We’re better when we blend: The benefits of couple identity fusion

Walsh, Courtney; Neff, Lisa A.

doi:10.1080/15298868.2018.1430062

Cited by 42 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…With respect to the consequences of fusion, Whitehouse's rather narrow focus on violence, terrorism, and extreme behavior overlooks the fact that identity fusion may manifest itself in many other ways. For example, fusion has been linked to charitable giving to members of the in-group (Buhrmester et al 2018b;Misch et al 2018;Swann et al 2010b), donations of time and money to the community following a catastrophic earthquake (Segal et al 2018), adaptive coping in couples (Walsh & Neff 2018), endorsement of self-sacrifice in intergroup versions of the trolley dilemma (Gómez et al 2011a;Swann et al 2010a;2014b), expected life satisfaction following an election defeat or victory (Buhrmester et al 2012), plans to remain in the group (Gómez et al 2011b), curtailing medical aid to an out-group (Fredman et al 2017), endorsement of granting favors to one's twin (Vázquez et al 2017), undergoing sex reassignment surgery (Swann et al 2015), and endorsement of having the group fight for the self (Heger & Gaertner 2018b). One goal for a general theory of fusion would be to develop a common explanatory framework that could accommodate all of the diverse manifestations of identity fusion.…”

Section: Individual Difference In Acts Of Self-sacrificementioning

confidence: 99%

Dying for the group: Towards a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice

Whitehouse¹

2018

Behav Brain Sci

159

166

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Whether upheld as heroic or reviled as terrorism, throughout history people have been willing to lay down their lives for the sake of their groups. Why? Previous theories of extreme self-sacrifice have highlighted a range of seemingly disparate factors such as collective identity, outgroup hostility, and kin psychology. This paper attempts to integrate many of these factors into a single overarching theory based on several decades of collaborative research with a range of special populations, from tribes in Papua New Guinea to Libyan insurgents, and from Muslim fundamentalists in Indonesia to Brazilian football hooligans. These studies suggest that extreme self-sacrifice is motivated by 'identity fusion', a visceral sense of oneness with the group resulting from intense collective experiences (e.g. painful rituals or the horrors of frontline combat) or from perceptions of shared biology. In ancient foraging societies, fusion would have enabled warlike bands to stand united despite strong temptations to scatter and flee. The fusion mechanism has often been exploited in cultural rituals, not only by tribal societies but also in specialized cells embedded in armies, cults, and terrorist organizations. With the rise of social complexity and the spread of states and empires, fusion has also been extended to much larger groups, including doctrinal religions, ethnicities, and ideological movements. Explaining extreme self-sacrifice is not only a scientific priority but also a practical challenge as we seek a collective response to suicide terrorism and other extreme expressions of outgroup hostility that continue to bedevil humanity today.

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Section: Individual Difference In Acts Of Self-sacrificementioning

confidence: 99%

Dying for the group: Towards a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice

Whitehouse¹

2018

Behav Brain Sci

159

166

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“…One of the most fundamental innovations of this period is the notion that it is possible to be fused with different types of entities. In addition to the traditional conception of identity fusion, as the relation that an individual develops with a group (the ingroup, but also an outgroup that, e.g., is oppressed, see Kunst et al, 2018), people can fuse with another individual as his/her romantic partner (Joo & Park, 2017; Walsh & Neff, 2018), his/her sibling (Vázquez, Gómez, Ordoñana, Swann, & Whitehouse, 2017), or a political leader (Kunst, Dovidio, & Thomsen, 2019). But individuals can also fuse with an animal (Buhrmester, Burnham, et al, 2018), a trademark (Hawkins, 2019), or a value or conviction , as religion (Fredman, Bastian, & Swann, 2017).…”

Section: Main Advances and Discoveries Since 2015 For Identity Fusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…And Talaifar et al (2020), found that students who were strongly fused with their university were more likely to remain in school up to a year later. Alternative studies indicate that one of the positive consequences of being fused with a group could be self‐expansion (Besta, Jaśkiewicz, Kosakowska‐Berezecka, Lawendowski, & Zawadzka, 2018), and that being fused with the romantic partner could lead to more constructive ways of coping with relationship conflicts and reduced vigilance for relationship threats (Walsh & Neff, 2018).…”

Section: Main Advances and Discoveries Since 2015 For Identity Fusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent advances, misconceptions, untested assumptions, and future research agenda for identity fusion theory

Gómez

Chinchilla

Vázquez

et al. 2020

Social & Personality Psych

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Just a decade ago, two psychologists, Swann, and Gómez, developed a new theoretical framework to explain extreme pro-group behaviors: identity fusion theory. Identity fusion refers to a visceral feeling of oneness with a group that motivates individuals to do extraordinary self-sacrifices on behalf of the group or each of its members. Since the formulation of the theory, interdisciplinary researchers of the five continents have conducted dozens of studies on identity fusion, both in laboratory and field settings. Research has deepened into the causes, consequences, underlying mechanisms, and applications of identity fusion. The development of fusion-based research has been steadfast and very prolific. Hence, the first section of the current manuscript includes an updated overview of this fast growing literature. This increasing interest for the theory has, however, been accompanied by a series of misconceptions and untested research assumptions, which we address in the second and third sections of the paper, concluding with a final section suggesting a future research agenda. Our aim is to help those interested in knowing more about identity fusion or about the causal mechanisms that lead individuals to risk their life and personal well-being for a group discarding common misconceptions as well as formulating more precise and nuanced hypotheses for future research.

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“…A recent study (Walsh and Neff, 2018) looked at “identity fusion” and its impact on handling conflicts in pair-bonded romantic relationships. Results demonstrated that individuals who perceived greater fusion with their partner (i.e., perceived an equal blending of the personal and partner’s self in creating their unique couple identity) exhibited reduced vigilance for relationship threats and enacted more constructive coping responses to relationship conflict.…”

Section: Outcomes Of Including Others In the Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pair-Bonding as Inclusion of Other in the Self: A Literature Review

Branand

Mashek²,

Aron

2019

Front. Psychol.

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This article surveys scholarship on the self-expansion model principle of inclusion of other in the self (IOS) as it relates to long-term pair-bonding (i.e., enduring adult romantic monogamous relationships). First, we introduce the concept of IOS and then provide a brief overview of prior research. We then review compelling extensions and findings related to relational concepts such as perspective taking (Bernstein et al., 2015), social comparison (Thai and Lockwood, 2015), self-determination (Weinstein et al., 2016), humor (Treger et al., 2013), and pain contagion (Martire et al., 2013). Next, we explore two recent theoretical directions of the principle—the two-dimensional model of relational self-change (McIntyre et al., 2015) and the perceived inclusion of the other in the self (IOS-perceived) construct (Tomlinson and Aron, 2013). Considering these findings and their relation to pair-bonding, we propose important future directions of the IOS principle of the self-expansion model.

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We’re better when we blend: The benefits of couple identity fusion

Cited by 42 publications

References 23 publications

Dying for the group: Towards a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice

Dying for the group: Towards a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice

Recent advances, misconceptions, untested assumptions, and future research agenda for identity fusion theory

Pair-Bonding as Inclusion of Other in the Self: A Literature Review

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