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Segregation and belief polarization as boundary conditions for when fusion leads to self-sacrifice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Zachary J. Melton  and
Matt Motyl
Zachary J. Melton
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607. zmelto2@uic.edu, matt.motyl@gmail.comhttp://www.mattmotyl.com
Matt Motyl
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607. zmelto2@uic.edu, matt.motyl@gmail.comhttp://www.mattmotyl.com
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Abstract

Physical enclavement, away from out-group members, may determine when identify fusion leads to self-sacrifice. When people surround themselves with ideologically similar others, their attitudes may polarize and become moralized, leading to more violence and hostility toward people who do not share those attitudes. We discuss how this segregation may increase the amount of political violence in typically nonviolent systems.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e211
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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