Groups organized around personal benefits favor compromise and shed members who gain nothing

Evidence

Within an individualistic frame, activism makes sense only as a way to attain personal resources and support not otherwise available, or as a way of attaining more abstract personal justice and fairness goals. Once established, these groups are less likely to focus on intergroup conflict and more likely to be pragmatic and focused on compromise. However, if such a group cannot meet members’ individualistic goals, it is likely to quickly lose membership. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 1088

Categorization

• XREF: Useful bridge to the reader’s mechanism literature: pragmatic individualist groups deflect intergroup conflict, whereas collectivist framing channels it toward scapegoats. — connects to: Group memberships determined by capital, not personal virtue, confer status. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 89; Under individualism, groups are disposable instruments and people pursue uniqueness and personal happiness. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 1069; Group commitment shifts members from self-interest toward collective welfare — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 914 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Cooperative members who lack psychological ownership tend to disengage. #corroborates (0.90) — Adrian Josef Amon, Organizing the study of degeneration…, 101
• Group commitment shifts members from self-interest toward collective welfare #complicates (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 914