Adopting a religious identity shifts the self from I to we and drives conformity.

Evidence

When individuals attach to or are born into a religion, the individual may extend the self to include the religion’s collective identity, and shift from I to we, and thus the individual sees the group as an important aspect of the self. As the self extends to the collective, we will seek to conform our attitudes and behavior so that we are an exemplar of the group (Turner et al., 1987). Ensuring conformity to religious norms and behavior because of the moral implications is particularly important to members of a religious collective. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 911

Categorization

• XREF: The I-to-we shift echoes self-categorization theory in other readings on collective identity and social identity. — connects to: Sacred values and identity fusion interact to drive sacrificial self-interest. — Scott Atran, The Devoted Actor: Unconditional…, 9; Theistic religious primes activate in-group identity while nontheistic ones activate universalism. — Annetta Snell and Miron Zuckerman and Bonnie M. Le, Does Religious Priming Induce Greater…, 28