Understanding Tribal Psychology and Identity

Introduction

Just as a picture is separated into figure and ground, we also classify the social world into us and them. What is the cause of that? The tribal mindset seen in individuals is an important trait for evolution, but the growing tribal divisions seriously threaten our individualistic society. What is the origin of this tribal psychology? Were there challenges that could have been addressed, at least to some extent, by employing tribal psychology? There are three main categories for evolutionary explanations. Psychologists Lilliana Mason and Dan Kahan credit Tribal Psychology and the amplifying influence of social media for the increase in political polarization. Recognizing individuals from different tribes had advantages for safety in terms of evolution. Small, illogical discrepancies can easily deceive our minds into incorporating or disregarding something. The brain is crucial in molding cognitive, emotional, and social abilities. One of the brain's fascinating characteristics is its natural inclination towards social connections. Human beings naturally flourish in social environments and actively pursue relationships with one another. Neuroscientists have thoroughly researched this phenomenon and pinpointed different neural mechanisms that are the basis of our social behavior. The brain's tribal instincts are a result of the crucial role social behavior plays in human survival and evolution. Our predecessors resided in tiny clusters, requiring collaboration, structure, and the cultivation of social abilities like communication, empathy, and cooperation, all of which offered a competitive edge in terms of natural selection.

Tribal Psychology

The tribe exists within our consciousness. It is the inner psychological representation of the plural pronoun “us”. It is always defined as its opposite, "them". The tribe is an artificial creation of society. Creating the tribe collectively helps form and structure our perspective on the world. Tribal psychology involves humans' inclination to create social groups and connect with them, rooted in common values, objectives, and sense of self. The natural inclination of the human brain to form social connections is a crucial evolutionary trait. Certain aspects of tribal psychology involve recognizing the difference between those within the group and those outside of it, showing strong fondness for members of the group, and feeling hostility towards disloyal group members. Tribalism can be beneficial by fostering group commitment among individuals. Nevertheless, tribalism can result in bullying and is considered a threat to individualistic societies. Research in social psychology shows that humans have a strong tribal psychology, which includes behaviors such as favoring ingroup members, developing strong bonds with ingroups, disliking disloyal ingroup members, and engaging in discrimination.

Tribal identity imbues individuals with a positive self-perception. This is crucial for the mental well-being of the tribe. Every tribe depicts itself using the most elevated language. The tribe instructs its members that their people are the most intelligent, powerful, truthful, and attractive individuals, shaping both the tribe's identity and that of its members with these positive images of the group. Carl Jung refers to this embellished, magnified, inflated self-image as the "exalted self". We shall name it the Majestic Clannish Self. This is the tribal equivalent of the Jungian concept of the Persona, where individuals present only their most positive traits to the world.

Tribes place a high importance on unity, consensus, and togetherness above all else. This is instilled and nurtured in the minds of every tribal member starting at a young age. The tribe suppresses disagreement, especially concerning other tribes, but dissent and innovation are heavily restricted in tribal communities. No other social system is as traditional as a tribal community. The tribe's lasting existence and its outdated values are due to the stifling of opposing viewpoints. Watching this phenomenon unfold is truly remarkable. Members of the tribe reach an?agreement on national matters so quickly that one might question if the tribal shared consciousness goes beyond time and distance. This is how groupthink is manifested in the workplace. Tribal members do not need discussion papers or consensus-building conferences to agree on their opinions. They share a common belief that allows them to easily and instinctively develop a similar viewpoint.

The Characteristics of Tribal Psychology

As creatures who thrive in groups, we have an innate "desire for connection." Even if we are unaware of it, we may still possess this need, which is nestled deep within us. The significance of addressing our need for belonging to a group is that it has practical implications for our emotional well-being, not just a theoretical concept. The renowned Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung might have been unaware of Somali tribes. Out of all the psychological theories, his constructs most accurately portray tribal psychology, including the collective unconscious, archetypes, persona, and shadow. The community resides within the shared subconscious of its members. A sense of tribal identity boosts members' self-esteem. This is crucial for the mental well-being of the tribe. Some psychological benefits of belonging to a Tribal Community are listed below:

• Belonging to a tribal identity helps members develop a positive self-image. Being part of a group and feeling connected to fellow group members is crucial for our sense of identity and self-esteem.
• Group identity often leads to a shared sense of purpose when working towards collective objectives.
• Not only are they willing to accept help from community members, but they also consider it more valuable and meaningful. This happens when we believe that people within our group are better at comprehending our feelings, making their encouragement and approval more effective than that of outsiders.
• Becoming part of a community with individuals who have similar interests or goals can help boost our social interactions. We tend to feel a stronger bond with individuals who have the same purpose or passion as us, and as a result, they are more likely to embrace and include us due to this shared bond.

The tribal instincts hypothesis has many predictions about the evolved psychological mechanisms behind intergroup behavior in humans. Tribes have similar thoughts. Tribes have similar political viewpoints. There is no principle on which the political support of a tribe is grounded. It is transient and changing like the sand in the desert. Tribal Selective Information Filter is possibly the most widespread and harmful feature of tribal psychopathology. The mental mechanism known as the Selective Information Filter is deeply rooted in the minds of tribe members. The tribe views information about the world based on their self-interest, caring about how it affects them rather than others. Members actively choose to sieve through information about different tribal groups. People in the tribal group are unaware of the successes and failures of others, experiencing a significant lack of knowledge. Studies in anthropology show that revenge is the primary reason behind tribal conflicts. Tribes do not engage in conflict based on principles. They struggle to seek revenge. A tribal group is committed to protecting the dignity and sacredness of their own lives and to attacking their enemies. Tribal conflict is intimate. It is instantaneous. It evokes emotions. And it is unattractive. Seeking vengeance is a difficult motive that is fueled by emotions. It retains memories over a long period. Furthermore, revenge requires more than just fairness, more than just retribution. The victim of the vengeance must be shown a lesson. He needs to understand unequivocally how incorrect he was to challenge this tribe.

Conclusion

Globally, mental disorders are rising with increasing urbanization. India has the world’s second-largest tribal population, and it is critical to appreciate the mental health problems in this population. However, the extent of mental health issues among tribal populations is unknown. Social determinants are key risk factors associated with mental disorders, more particularly among disadvantaged tribal populations. Knowledge about mental health in the community, stigma, effective strategies to specifically approach and interact with this population in providing mental health care, and the acceptability and feasibility of different mental health service delivery modalities in these communities need to be well-researched and understood, before scaling up services.

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References and For Further Reading

Cory J. Clark et al. (2019). Tribalism Is Human Nature. https://cpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.uci.edu/dist/1/863/files/2019/10/Clark-et-al-2019.pdf

Van Vugt, M. & H. Park, Justin. The Tribal Instinct Hypothesis: Evolution and the Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329183431_Subjective_Well_being_of_Tribal_and_Non_tribal_People_in_Relation_to_Psychological_Needs

M. Schaller, J. A. Simpson, & D. T. Kenrick (2010), Evolution and social psychology. New York: Psychology Press. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232589049_Evolution_and_Social_Psychology

Rao Palkansh., Kalpana Jain., Anita Manglani (2022). A Comparative Analysis of Mindset and Psychological Capital for Tribal and Non-Tribal Adolescents. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research XCI-XLIX(1):42-55. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360126455_A_COMPARATIVE_ANALYSIS_OF_MINDSET_AND_PSYCHOLOGICAL_CAPITAL_FOR_TRIBAL_AND_NON-TRIBAL_ADOLESCENTS