Threatened self-esteem plus uncertainty drives people into rigid group identity.

Evidence

The combined state of low self-esteem and high uncertainty is associated with the use of group identity and intergroup thinking (Hogg & Abrams, 1988; Hogg & Mullin, 1999). … According to Turner (1985), group identity is defined as being least like the out-group. Thus, to be prototypically German was to be least like the Jews (the internal enemy) and the French (the external enemy). — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 913

Categorization

• XREF: This is the low-self-esteem/high-uncertainty route into subgroup identification that Glick’s later chapter on scapegoating envied outgroups should be read against — the two mechanisms may be complementary rather than competing explanations of Holocaust-era targeting. — connects to: Identity anxiety is really worry about being valued by others — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 290; Stereotypes and identification precede threats, whose attitude effects run through emotions. — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup…, 149; Others’ questioning and ingroup invalidation force Mixed individuals into chronic self-concept uncertainty — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or…, 86 (+4 more)