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🪵 The Threshold

Perceived external threat strengthens in-group solidarity and norm enforcement across cultures

Properties2
tagsja-picks, xref, deepthinking, factual_claims, trade, singleton, yield-rescued, category/factual-claims
aliases@norenzayan_big_2013, loc. 457

4 min read

Perceived external threat strengthens in-group solidarity and norm enforcement across cultures

Evidence

In an ambitious cross-cultural investigation spanning 33 nation-states, Michele Gelfand and her colleagues measured something related to social solidarity. They looked at the degree to which nations are “tight”—that is, do they have strict social norms that apply to many situations? How important is conformity to these norms? How much deviation from norms is tolerated and do people get punished for violating these norms? They found several interesting things. First, there was considerable cultural variability, with some cultures such as Turkey, India, and South Korea being very tight, and others, such as Iceland, Ukraine, and New Zealand being “loose.” Next, Gelfand and her colleagues set out to understand what factors explain this cultural variability: what explains the strictness of norm-enforcement in some places but not others? They identified a number of important antecedent conditions. Among those factors were historical levels of territorial conflict—that is, they found that, all else being equal, conflict a hundred years ago increased the odds of strict norm-enforcement today. Tighter nations were also more religious—and that makes sense too if world religions are a group-mobilizing force. Of course, there is more to social solidarity than strict norm enforcement, and effective collective action is possible without wholesale suppression of dissent. And as is the case with such broad investigations, it is not always easy to know cause and effect. But Gelfand’s findings point to the fact that, when cultural groups feel threatened, they tend to suppress internal discord in order to mobilize the group for collective action against the perceived threat. Often social mobilization takes a life of its own and persists, even after the threat is long gone. … In game experiments, Van Vugt and his colleagues first gave men and women money, which they could keep for themselves or contribute to their group’s common fund. If enough group members contributed to the group’s fund, individual members would get a larger return in the long run by giving to the group. But if few members contributed, individuals would lose by giving to the group. When groups of men were competing against other groups, men were more generous toward their own group. In other words, men are willing to suppress immediate selfishness if the group is under threat. Women, however, were not affected by such intergroup competition. They were generous regardless of whether or not there was conflict. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 457

Categorization

  • XREF: Connects to the chapter’s core thesis that war/conflict (and presumable competition with rival religious groups) reinforces religious solidarity — echoes the fumi-e context where Japanese authorities weaponize this dynamic. — connects to: Equality gains by subordinate groups trigger perceived threat in dominant groups — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 151; Perceived relative power predicts harsher expected reaction to norm violations — R. C. Tripathi, R. Kumar, and V. N. Tripathi, When the Advantaged Feel Victimised:…, 29; Shared misery and external threats drive stigmatized groups toward protective internal solidarity (+6 more)
  • DEEPTHINKING: The finding that threat-driven tightening ‘takes a life of its own and persists after the threat is long gone’ is a subtle, durable point about institutional momentum that resists simple summary.
  • yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Equality gains by subordinate groups trigger perceived threat in dominant groups — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 151; Perceived relative power predicts harsher expected reaction to norm violations — R. C. Tripathi, R. Kumar, and V. N. Tripathi, When the Advantaged Feel Victimised:…, 29; Shared misery and external threats drive stigmatized groups toward protective internal solidarity (+6 more)

Broader Connections

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