Identity can be formed negationally by focusing on group non-membership.

Evidence

In the present research, we propose a different approach for dealing with narrow racial identification in a sociopolitical context. Recent research suggests that affirmational identity—who or what we are—may not be the only source of identification. Groups to which we do not belong may be equally informative to our sense of self, with individuals being able to identify negationally by focusing on what they are not. Thus, an individual could focus on being Black, an affirmational identity, or on not being White, a negational identity (Zhong, Phillips, Lenardelli, & Galinsky, 2008). — Chen-Bo Zhong, Adam D. Galinsky, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Negational racial identity and…, 17

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the negational versus affirmational identity distinction that anchors the whole research program.
• XREF: Connects to the We-They Engine thread’s existing interest in Obama-voting from negational identity. — connects to: Negational identity can build coalitions across minority groups by de-emphasizing in-group. — Chen-Bo Zhong, Adam D. Galinsky, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Negational racial identity and…, 47; Negational identification unites out-groups through shared non-membership rather than shared membership. — Chen-Bo Zhong, Adam D. Galinsky, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Negational racial identity and…, 37; Negational identification can unite people who cannot agree on positive identity — Chen-Bo Zhong, Adam D. Galinsky, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Negational racial identity and…, 19 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Negational identification unites out-groups through shared non-membership rather than shared membership. #expands (0.95) — Chen-Bo Zhong, Adam D. Galinsky, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Negational racial identity and…, 37
• Group identities are formed negatively as ‘not-barbarian’ rather than positively. #exemplifies (0.95) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 154
• Identity is defined oppositionally, against those one is not. #corroborates (0.92)
• Identity is constituted through exclusion of what it is not #corroborates (0.90)
• Negational identification can unite people who cannot agree on positive identity #expands (0.88) — Chen-Bo Zhong, Adam D. Galinsky, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Negational racial identity and…, 19
• Identity is constructed through opposition to a continuously reinterpreted other #corroborates (0.85)
• Making negational identity salient shifts voting choices toward shared out-group members #expands (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1115
• Defining oneself by what one is not can recategorize former out-groups as in-group members. #expands (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1115
• Negational identity appeals carry a cost of intensified out-group derogation. #expands (0.82) — Chen-Bo Zhong, Adam D. Galinsky, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Negational racial identity and…, 40
• Groups whose identity means not being an out-group inevitably derogate that out-group #qualifies (0.80) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1120
• Individual identity forms dialogically through a constitutive outside, not autonomously. #corroborates (0.80) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 363
• Identity is internally mediated by the non-identical #corroborates (0.78) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1223
• Identity is constituted through splitting and an interiorized Other, not pure difference. #complicates (0.75)