Emotions, Instincts, the Ingroup-Outgroup Syndrome, Patriotism vs Racism, Janus the two faced God - the Ingroup Face and the Outgroup Face
Creators: name: Peck Jr, Charles E
Publisher: name: Knowledge Commons
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Psychology
subject: FOS: Psychology
subject: Irish studies
subject: Anthropology
subject: Philosophy
subject: FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion
subject: Indigenous peoples
subject: Symbolism (Psychology)
subject: Social
subject: Filipinos--Social conditions
subject: Ethnicity--Religious aspects--Christianity
subject: Ethnicity
subject: Anti-racism
subject: European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
subject: European Centre on Racism and Xenophobia
subject: International Committee Against Racism
subject: Tajfel, Henri
subject: Irish American Cultural Institute
subject: Irish Council for Civil Liberties
subject: Franciscans. Irish Province
subject: Science and Public Policy Studies Group
subject: Cultural and Social Centre for the Asian and Pacific Region
subject: Economic and Social Research Institute. Council

description: The article discusses the concept of patriotism and its connection to group-related instincts. It argues that while patriotism can be a powerful force for good, it can also lead to harmful behaviors like genocide. The article then explores the ingroup-outgroup syndrome, a psychological phenomenon that explains why people tend to favor their own group and view outsiders negatively. It also examines the role of emotions in group-related behavior, highlighting the importance of understanding how emotions can influence our judgments and actions. Finally, the article uses the example of Australian Aborigines to illustrate how powerful group-related instincts can manifest in emotional displays and rituals. Janus, the Two Faced Roman God – The Ingroup Face and the Outgroup Face It seems a paradox that while the processes involved in the workings of the ingroup-outgroup syndrome clearly involved some emotional judgments, especially in the dominant characteristic of favoritism flagrantly unrelated to any objective judgment, the conclusion of Tajfel, and the implicit emphasis of Social Identity Theory was the cognitive aspect of group formation: "Thus these groups are purely cognitive and can be referred to as minimal."[i] (p49 soc id). Bargh: If a random red or blue ball is enough to trigger these "us versus them" feelings John Bargh emphasizes how easily group related ingroup-outgroup emotions can kick in. "Henri Tajfel and his colleagues showed just how ridiculously minimal [easily triggered] these "us versus them" cues could be. They had their participants draw colored balls from and urn so that some drew red balls and some drew blue ones. (The selection as entirely random) But later, when given the chance to divide up some money, the participants gave more to those who drew the same color ball as they had, and less to others in the room. …..[ii] If a random red or blue ball is enough to trigger these "us versus them" feelings, then it is hardly surprising that group stereotypes and prejudices are inspired by more pronounced and substantive group differences, such as different languages or accents, different skin color, and different religions and cultural practices.