Introduction
Videos and overviews of group norms and social identity by Over Zero within the context of understanding conflict between groups, or harm and violence that targets groups based on their identity. Over Zero was founded in response to the global need to counteract and prevent identity-based violence and other forms of group-targeted harm.Social Identity
A video and overview of social identity and the role that it plays in different conflict contexts as a weapon for violence and as a tool for reconciliation.What is Social Identity and Why is it Important?
To understand conflict between groups, or harm and violence that targets groups based on their identity, it’s important to have a baseline understanding of social identity.Social identity refers to our sense of who we are based on our group membership/s and it is a powerful source of individual pride and self-esteem.
Where do our Social Identities come from?
Humans are social creatures and depend on groups for survival. Perhaps for this reason, humans find and form groups automatically, even subconsciously. Studies show that individuals can feel a sense of group belonging from things as simple as putting on the same color t-shirt as others.¹ While we choose some of our groups, society may assign us to other groups. Society may assign us to groups based on “sticky” factors — those factors we cannot change about ourselves: our religion or ethnicity, where we were born, or the color of our skin, for instance. Even if not initially, some identities may eventually become sticky as conflict dynamics evolve. For example, in a conflict based on ideology, someone’s ideology might be presumed based on their profession (for instance, professors/teachers were targeted by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia).²What Happens Once we are in Groups?
Once we are part of groups, we want them to survive. Without knowing it, we tend to favor groups we are part of and exaggerate differences with other groups.³,⁴,⁵We magnify the similarities between people within our group and, because our self-esteem is linked to the group, are motivated to maintain a positive impression of our group in comparison to others.⁵ We also tend to overestimate the differences between our group and others.
Which Social Identities become Important to Us and When?
We are all part of multiple groups – what makes some groups become more important to our identity than others?- When our group is under threat from another group (also referred to as an “outgroup”) — be it a threat to jobs, power, identity, or culture, and be it perceived or actual, from another group — we are more willing to take actions that help our group and, sometimes, harm the “other” group. When our group is threatened by an out-group, we tend to experience greater empathy for the pain and suffering of our in-group members compared to out-group members. This heightened in-group empathy can increase willingness to take actions to protect our own group, and decrease concern for the out-group.⁶,⁷
- Our level of commitment to our group helps determine our willingness to take actions to either protect our group or harm threatening out-groups. When we are more highly committed – or “fused” – to our group, or when we feel insecure about our membership in the group, we are more likely to take these actions.⁸ Feeling fused with a group, or wanting to be accepted by the group but feeling unsure of our status, increases our commitment to – and willingness to act in favor of – our own group.⁹
- Intergroup Contact: While contact between groups can positively impact intergroup conflict under certain conditions, in other conditions it can have significant negative effects.¹⁰,¹¹,¹² For example, when perceiving competition or threat, being exposed to other groups can actually increase the strength of our identification with11 and favoritism towards our own groups.¹³,¹⁴,¹⁵,¹⁶,¹⁷,¹⁸,¹⁹ This may be because exposure to an outgroup makes our own identity more salient.
How Social Identity is Mobilized in Conflict
Dangerous speech (speech that increases the risk of violence)²⁰ and/or conflict can push us into a singular and rigid version of our social identity, usually just based on one dividing demographic or ideological feature — like race, religion, or political ideology.And that’s what can become problematic. When we lose all our many crosscutting identities in favor of very singular and rigid identities, social norms become even more powerful within those groups because we don’t have multiple social spaces (with various sets of norms) to be in. This is particularly challenging when it happens based on those “sticky” identities, which means we also end up being perceived to be part of a group whether we want to or not.
Implications for Practice
Amidst conflict, extreme polarization, or the one-sided targeting of a certain group or groups for harm, it is thus especially important to be aware of the identities made salient and the identities subsequently being obscured.Thankfully, human design includes powerful tools for defusing the dangerous dynamics outlined above. First, is the ability of our identities to shift and change in terms of salience; second, humans have a propensity for forming new groups. Activating existing cross-cutting and unifying identities (such as all being residents of the same city) can strengthen the social fabric of a society, which in turn reduces the risk that people will mobilize around a singular identity to cause harm to others. Where cross-cutting and unifying identities cannot be made salient or do not exist, new identities (identities around being peacekeepers, for instance) can be created and mobilized to counteract conflict and harm.
Key Takeways
- Our social identities inform our sense of who we are based on our group membership/s. They are a powerful source of our pride and self-esteem. Humans are hard-wired to be part of groups and research has shown that humans form social identity groups automatically.
- Everyone has multiple identities. Identities are made more or less salient depending on context. Some of the key factors that influence which identities are most salient include a group being threatened, individual “fusion” with a group, and contact (and the nature of that contact) with other groups.
- In conflict, people often get pushed into one singular and rigid identity. When we don’t feel connected to multiple different groups, or when our group memberships are “sorted” such that they all share the same beliefs,²¹ there is more clarity around group norms and more social pressure to maintain them (for instance, not calling out dangerous rhetoric by an in-group’s leadership or to commit harms against another group).
- Just as social identity can fuel dangerous dynamics, it can also be used to defuse them through building cross-cutting and unifying identities.
Key Considerations for your Work
- Consider which identities are being mobilized in the conflicts within which you operate. How are these identities being made rigid?
- What are some potential reasons why these identities are becoming more relevant?
- What competing cross-cutting or unifying identities exist?
- How can you create or leverage cross-cutting or unifying identities?
- How can you build shared goals and aspirations between different identity groups?
- How is contact between groups already happening, or being made? Are the risks associated with strategies based on ‘contact theory’ being considered?
Group Norms
Understanding social norms can provide insights into the internal, group-level dynamics that may move groups towards hate or violence. How do group norms impact group members’ behavior? How do these norms evolve over time for a given group?
The following primer defines social norms, describes how they are formed and their impact on behaviors, and examines the practical implications of this research.
Social norms are unwritten rules of behavior based on what is considered normal for or expected of members in a certain group.¹There are a different types of norms:
- Descriptive norms: What people are actually doing.
- Perceived norms: What someone thinks all or most people are doing
- Injunctive norms: What someone thinks they should or should not be doing
What else should we know about Norms?
- We tend to overestimate negative behavior.
A few loud voices advocating negative behavior (or even just talking about it) can have an outsized impact: they change what we think the norm is, and therefore how we behave.
- Norms are powerful partly because they are related to belonging – and we are wired for belonging. For example, studies have actually shown that when we are rejected, the same part of our brain is activated as when we feel physical pain. Being rejected actually hurts us.⁸ We care most about the norms in the groups we are part of, and in particular, for our closest social groups.⁹ For instance, high schoolers care more about high school norms than adult ones, and care most about the norms in their clique than those of the general student body. In times of conflict, if our group is condoning or participating in hate or violence, we may feel increased pressure to do the same, even if doing so violates our privately held beliefs.
- Norms are not static. They form and evolve alongside real or perceived challenges in our social environment.
We are constantly – even if not consciously – assessing and updating our understanding of norms through signals from the groups we belong to (e.g. public statements, actions; or even marketing campaigns, social media,and the news).¹⁰
- Some people have a bigger influence on norms than others – specifically, “norm referents” –people who are widely known across a particular social network, either because they are leaders or the “hubs” of social networks–tend to have a greater influence within that network.²,¹¹,¹²
What does this mean for Hate and Violence?
Norms may encourage individuals harboring hate or prejudice to either act upon, or conceal, those views;⁷,¹³,¹⁴,¹⁵,¹⁶,¹⁷ they may also influence whether those opposing hate and prejudice choose to take action or stay silent.¹⁸,¹⁹ As conflicts evolve and identities become more rigid and exclusionary, norms and social pressures can shift to encourage support or participation in violence or harm. As people face novel situations without clear rules or expectations for behavior,²,¹¹,¹²,²⁰,²¹,²² as in conflict, norm clues are more influential. In such situations, public rhetoric and observed actions can quickly shift group norms, particularly when connected to powerful emotions that lead people to more strongly identify with their group, such as fear and perceived threat.²³What does this mean for Practice?
Norms also impact prosocial behavior. For example, studies increasingly show the impact of conflict resolution media programming even in the most violent contexts.²⁴,²⁵,²⁶ Israeli and Palestinian children who viewed the show “Sesame Street” later endorsed more positive stereotypes and attributes of the out-group,²⁷ and Rwandans who listened to a pro-reconciliation radio program following the genocide were more likely to expect that open dissent and cooperation between ethnic groups would be deemed acceptable.⁵ Lastly, institutional shifts can also cause people to update their norm perceptions. When the U.S. Supreme Courts ruled in favor of marriage equality in 2015, it was shown to influence norm perceptions throughout the U.S. (though not personal attitudes).¹⁰ In summary, norms powerfully influence behavior; they matter the most for people’s own groups;⁹ and perceptions of norms are not static but are instead based on our understanding of the social environment, regardless of whether that assessment mirrors reality.Norms can positively or negatively impact expressions of hate or violence in society. Norms may restrain expressions of prejudice and prevent violence, creating expectations of inclusion and equality; or, they may be mobilized to increase the expectation of and social pressure to participate in expressions of hatred and violence, while silencing dissent.²⁸
Key Takeaways
- Norms are unwritten rules of behavior that vary across groups.
- Norms are key drivers of behavior, as humans are hardwired to be part of groups.
- The perception of what the norm is- whether or not that perception is accurate- is what matters most in terms of dictating behavior.
- Norms can create powerful social pressure that fuel harmful and violent behaviors, as well as cooperation and prosocial behaviors.
Key Considerations for your Work
- Consider who the ‘norm referents’ in a group are–be they well-respected leaders or “hubs” that are widely connected within a network. Can you work with them to set positive norms such as nonviolence and inclusivity? Sometimes these people can be identified through informal means–by mapping out key connectors in a community, and identifying informal and formal leaders who hold high esteem. Other times, you can actually conduct a social network exercise to identify “hubs” and appeal to their participation. Can you correct misperceptions about negative norms- in other words, show people that those advocating for harm and violence are the minority?
- Can you give examples of positive behavior for people to follow (showing rather than telling?)
- Be careful not to communicate a negative norm, for instance by saying “hate is everywhere.” Instead, communicate a social issue in a way that also communicates a positive norm, such as “While hate is on the rise, most citizens reject it vehemently.”