Dying and Killing for One's Group: Identity Fusion Moderates Responses to Intergroup Versions of the Trolley Problem

Using an intergroup version of the trolley problem, we explored participants' willingness to sacrifice their lives for their group. In Study 1, Spaniards whose personal identities were fused with their group identity endorsed saving fellow Spaniards by jumping to their deaths in front of a runa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological science 2010-08, Vol.21 (8), p.1176-1183
Main Authors: Swann, William B., Gómez, Ángel, Dovidio, John F., Hart, Sonia, Jetten, Jolanda
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Altruism
Behavior
Deaths
European cultural groups
Female
Group analysis
Group dynamics
Group identity
Heroism & heroes
Homicide - psychology
Humans
Identity
Intergroup relations
Jumping
Killing
Male
Moral agency
National identity
Personal identity
Personality psychology
Psychological Distance
Sacrifice
Self
Self concept
Social Identification
Social identity
Social psychology
Social sciences
Spain
Suicide - psychology
Terrorists
Thought experiments
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Summary:Using an intergroup version of the trolley problem, we explored participants' willingness to sacrifice their lives for their group. In Study 1, Spaniards whose personal identities were fused with their group identity endorsed saving fellow Spaniards by jumping to their deaths in front of a runaway trolley. Studies 2 and 3 showed that the self-sacrificial behaviors of fused Spaniards generalized to saving members of an extended in-group (Europeans) but not members of an out-group (Americans). In Study 4, fused participants endorsed pushing aside a fellow Spaniard who was poised to jump to his death and initiate a chain of events that would lead to the deaths of several terrorists, so that they could commit this act themselves. In all four studies, nonfused participants expressed reluctance to sacrifice themselves, and identification with the group predicted nothing. The nature of identity fusion and its relationship to related constructs are discussed.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1177/0956797610376656