Human beings are a gregarious species. That is, since ancient times we have lived in community. For that reason, I think that trying to understand how the brain works by separating it from the culture and society to which it belongs is as artificial and absurd as trying to study the habits of a fish by taking it out of the water. We are social beings, our identity is partly built based on the views of others.
The same is true for self-esteem. The opinion we have of ourselves is the final amalgamation of the interaction of many internal factors, such as our temperament and personality characteristics, with external factors; That is, everything that comes from the environment, such as the education our parents gave us or the neighborhood in which we grew up.
It is not strange then to propose that our sense of personal worth depends largely on the group to which we belong. The concept we have of ourselves is shaped not only by our personal identity, but also for a social identity.
The feeling of belonging that comes from being a member of a group can thus contribute to strengthening or weakening our self-esteem. Therefore, the more positive characteristics we give to our group, whether it is a political party, a football club or whatever, we will feel better about ourselves.
Social identity merges with personal identity, and that has a direct impact on self-esteem. If I think that the group that has welcomed me is fantastic, that also makes me, as an individual, a fantastic being. AND It is here where we find the germ of fanaticism: Those who fight tenaciously (and often even literally die in that fight) to defend the banners of the group, are ultimately defending their own self-esteem, which they feel is in danger.
Research in psychology postulates a simple equation: The poorer our self-esteem, the greater the need for identification with a powerful community to help us repair it or at least sustain it. The more insecure we feel and doubt our worth, the stronger the impulse to protect our personal pride by associating it with a solid group of belonging.
Of course, this equation is not mathematical; That is, it does not apply to 100% of people. But it does apply to many of them. At least in the West, which is the side of the planet where the research comes from, the correlation between low self-esteem and fanaticism is significant. What I feel I don’t have, I look for the group to provide me. We have here the fertile land on which some of the worst defects we have as a species are built, often uncritically. Here are some examples.
1. Nationalism
Configured as the absurd belief that we We are better than the citizens of the neighboring country for the simple fact of having been born randomly on this side of a border, and not the other. Patriotic pride intensifies significantly when it is also accompanied by a feeling of morality that we believe is inherent to our society, such as the idea that “God is on our side,” or “Good always triumphs over evil, and we are the good ones.”
2. Religious sectarianism
Leaving aside fundamentalism (due to its obviousness), one of the most notable cases in this sense is the one that occurred in 1978 in Guyana, where more than 900 people who made up the People’s Temple community committed suicide in a submissive and thoughtless manner. following the orders of Pastor Jim Jones, the spiritual leader of the group.
Polarization into antagonistic groups that attack or defend a specific cause is usually a bad sign. The recent debate over the decriminalization of abortion in Argentina is a clear example, which led a large part of society to divide into two opposing and irreconcilable sides, where Moral aspects and scientific arguments were relegated to the background, overshadowed by a superficial discussion in which the arrival of logical conclusions was not important, but rather the victory of one’s own position over the opposing one. In this sense, blaming someone else or demonizing the adversary provides us with the perfect excuse not to take charge of our own frustrations.
3. Extreme political affiliation
The great merit of Adolf Hitler, which allowed him to come to power in the 1930s in Germany, was tell the people exactly what they needed to hear, at the right time. German morale had been devastated after the great war. In this context of widespread crisis and low social self-esteem, Hitler knew how to channel people’s frustration and talk to them so that they began to feel proud of who they were again.
With such deteriorated self-esteem, even an educated people like the Germans could not help but resist empowering Hitler with the results that we all already know. “It is easier to deceive people than to convince them that they have been deceived,” said Mark Twain.
4. Sports “passion”
Especially in football, in whose stadiums many times real pitched battles take place. In relation to this last point, it is common to hear many people say things like: “We won, we are the best!” (when the team they sympathize with triumphs) revealing the personal desire to achieve the greatest possible identification with their group. On the contrary, we are hardly going to hear someone exclaim: “We lost, we are the worst!” (in the face of bitter defeat). In this second case, what is expected is not to get involved and distance yourself from the defeated team so as not to be associated with disgrace: “They lost, they are the worst!”
Only those who do not feel well in life They try to improve their self-image by linking it to successful people. They do not seek prestige in their own achievements, but in someone else’s. At the other extreme, those who have a good opinion of themselves do not need to reinforce it by appealing to the glory of others.
The premise is valid that the greater the intransigence with respect to an idea or doctrine, the more deteriorated the self-esteem and sense of personal identity of the individual who proclaims it is likely to be. We come to feel superior (in every possible way) to the same extent that we convince ourselves that our group is the best, and this is one of the worst fallacies we can fall into.
