Contemplating the ultimate sacrifice: Identity fusion channels pro-group affect, cognition, and moral decision making.

Abstract

Although most people acknowledge the moral virtue in sacrificing oneself to save others, few actually endorse self-sacrifice. Seven experiments explored the cognitive and emotional mechanisms that underlie such endorsements. Participants responded to 1 of 2 moral dilemmas in which they could save 5 members of their country only by sacrificing themselves. Over 90% of participants acknowledged that the moral course of action was to sacrifice oneself to save others (Experiment 1), yet only those who were strongly fused with the group preferentially endorsed self-sacrifice (Experiments 2-7). The presence of a concern with saving group members rather than the absence of a concern with self-preservation motivated strongly fused participants to endorse sacrificing themselves for the group (Experiment 3). Analyses of think aloud protocols suggested that saving others was motivated by emotional engagement with the group among strongly fused participants but by utilitarian concerns among weakly fused participants (Experiment 4). Hurrying participants' responses increased self-sacrifice among strongly fused participants but decreased self-sacrifice among weakly fused participants (Experiment 5). Priming the personal self increased endorsement of self-sacrifice among strongly fused participants but further reduced endorsement of self-sacrifice among weakly fused participants (Experiment 6). Strongly fused participants ignored utilitarian considerations, but weakly fused persons endorsed self-sacrifice more when it would save more people (Experiment 7). Apparently, the emotional engagement with the group experienced by strongly fused persons overrides the desire for self-preservation and compels them to translate their moral beliefs into self-sacrificial behavior.

The Role of Perceived In-group Moral Superiority in Reparative Intentions and Approach Motivation

“…Identity fusion is a visceral sense of “oneness” with a group and its individual members that motivates personally costly, pro-group behaviors. Fused persons are more inclined to engage in extraordinary behaviors in the service of their group memberships (Swann et al, 2009, 2012, 2014; Swann and Buhrmester, 2015). As identity fusion is more extreme than simple emotional attachment to the group, it would be interesting to see how fused persons would react to in-group misdeeds.…”

The Role of Self-Sacrifice in Moral Dilemmas

“…That is, Spanish participants approved of self-sacrificial intervention to save the lives of other Spaniards, but less so to save the lives of Americans. Subsequent work also suggests that willingness to sacrifice one-self for in-group members is a function of identify fusion–the greater the perceived overlap between self and in-group, the greater the wiliness to sacrifice one-self [23,24]. …”

Morality in intergroup conflict

“…This willingness generalizes to members of extended in-groups, but not to out-group members [8]. When facing information about threat to fellow in-group members, strongly fused individuals experience negative emotions as if they themselves were under threat, and intuitively and swiftly express willingness to protect the group [9]. Linking the value-expressive and identity-expressive accounts of self-sacrificial behavior, research shows that encouraging fused individuals to believe that members of their group share certain core characteristics, such as genes or values, leads them to perceive familial ties with fellow in-group members, which, in turn, triggers a sense of duty to self-sacrifice to protect group members from harm [10].…”