The stigma of treason grows with the intensity of intergroup conflict

Evidence

The intensity of explicit intergroup conflicts of interests is closely related in our cultures to the degree of opprobrium attached to the notion of “renegade” or “traitor.” This is why the belief systems corresponding to the “social change” extreme of our continuum are associated with intense intergroup conflicts. These conflicts can be conceived, therefore, as creating a subclass or a subcategory of the subjective intergroup dichotomization characteristic of that extreme of the belief continuum. They share the basic feature of the “social change” system of beliefs, in the sense that the multigroup structure is perceived as characterized by the extreme difficulty or impossibility of an individual’s moving from one group to another. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2687

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to social identity theory and the rigidity of group boundaries under conflict, as in Tajfel’s own framing and Berreby’s ‘Us and Them’.