Research published August 1 in Social Psychological and Personality Science shows individuals who move between two groups in direct competition form new bonds through aggressive acts against their former teammates.
“Our studies only involved groups in direct conflict,” lead researcher Negin R. Toosi of Columbia University told PsyPost. “In these settings, aggressive acts towards the other group contributed toward one’s own success (like blocking shots in a basketball game). For a person who had just switched between two groups in direct conflict, engaging in aggressive behaviors helped them feel more connected to their new group.”
Toosi, along with E.J. Masicampo of Wake Forest University and Nalini Ambady of Stanford University, conducted two experiments to investigate how a person forms bonds with a new group when that group is in direct opposition to one’s former group.
In the first experiment, the researchers had 30 students participate in the live-action tag game called Humans versus Zombies. In the second experiment, the researchers examined data from professional basketball players from three NBA seasons.
In both experiments, Toosi and her colleagues found carrying out an aggressive act against one’s former group members increased commitment to one’s new group. Players who became Zombies were happier with their new team after “killing” a Human. Likewise, professional basketball players made a greater numbers of assists after successfully blocking the shots of their former team members.
“In both studies, time with the new team and other game-related actions against the former team did not seem to increase commitment independent of the effects of aggression. Therefore, aggressing toward former in-group members serves as a particularly powerful catalyst for strengthening bonds with a new team,” the researchers wrote in their study.
“Although our studies may seem somewhat light-hearted, featuring zombies and basketball players, the sad truth is that our findings on the impact of aggressive acts could easily be used to explain the psychological experience of child soldiers,” Toosi told PsyPost. “We’re talking about immense trauma. That’s why it’s important to me to not over-generalize these findings.”
In their study, Toosi and her colleagues noted that warlords in Uganda and Rwanda have reportedly forced child soldiers kill their own family members. This act of violence against former in-group members helped solidify the children’s new identity as a soldier and made it difficult for them to return to their ordinary civilian life.
“The good news is that the opposite could be true as well,” Toosi told PsyPost.
The study only examined groups in direct competition. In situations where groups are not in direct competition, previous research has shown that acts of kindness — rather than aggression against former group members — can strengthen one’s connection to a new group.
“If groups are actively working for the improvement and well-being of others, then for people who join those groups, carrying out acts of generosity and kindness could increase their commitment to those groups,” Toosi said. “Maybe the larger question is how to move from a conflict- and competition-centered society to one where altruism and collaboration is the norm.”
