Tribal: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together

Visiting the Temple [1]Tradition means giving a vote to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. —G. K. Chesterton

The results consistently show that [66]people feel pride or shame for actions that their society values or devalues, respectively.

Across many kinds of settings, people are more inclined to act prosocially [58]when they are observable to others, even if these others are not fellow activists in a cause.

Churches and ecclesiastical images activate moral decisions and judgments for the devout but not for skeptics. Marketers

Leaders who are adept at triggering tribal identities can build coalitions to overcome long odds.

This is not too surprising—the urge to help one of “Us” is stronger than the urge to help one of “Them” or to help an uncategorizable person.

[34]When symbols trigger our group identities and ideals, we tend to see the world in terms of “Us” and “Them.”

The hero instinct, a suite of status-related motivations and learning heuristics, brought a new dimension to our forebears’ tribal living. Instead of just social learning from peers, there was social learning from heroes (attention to and emulation of high-status members). Instead of just motivation to act normally, there was motivation to act norm

These social breakthroughs of heidelbergensis reflect a side of human psychology that [5]I call the “hero instinct.” While the peer instinct encodes what most people in the group do and prompts conformity, the hero instinct registers what the most respected people do and stirs aspirations to contribute similarly.