New York Times
In a commencement address at the Naval Academy last month, President Trump revisited a familiar theme. He remarked to the graduates: “Winning is such a great feeling, isn’t it? Winning is such a great feeling. Nothing like winning – you got to win.” He later repeated the idea: “Victory, winning, beautiful words, but that is what it is all about.”
This focus on victory is not new for Mr. Trump. During his presidential campaign, Mr. Trump promised that under his leadership the audience would “get bored with winning.” He predicted that his fans would grow “so sick and tired of winning, you’re going to come to me and go, ‘Please, please, we can’t win anymore,’” and “I’m going to say, ‘I’m sorry but we’re going to keep winning, winning, winning.’”
The focus on winning is not incidental. It caters to a very primal need among humans to feel that we’re part of a group whose status is high and protected. This winning “we” is often a divisive concept, turning Americans against their fellow citizens. The story of how American politics has grown ever more focused on partisan victory instead of the greater good of the nation has two major components.
First, it is fundamental human nature to want our groups to win. Social psychological research pioneered by the Polish psychologist Henri Tajfel (who survived six years in a Nazi prison camp) worked to determine why groups of people try to destroy each other. Through a series of experiments called the "minimal group paradigm," Mr. Tajfel tried to locate the weakest level of group identification, the point at which people would not discriminate against an opposing group.
To his surprise, he couldn’t find it.
No matter how he divided up the subjects in his study (overestimators versus underestimators, Klee-lovers versus Kandinsky-lovers), they had a bias for the group they were in and a bias against the group they weren’t members of.
In a money allocation task, participants were given a choice between both groups receiving the maximum amount of money, or the subjects’ in-group receiving less than the maximum, but more than the out-group. People reliably chose group victory.
Mr. Tajfel explained this by linking our group status to our individual status. When our group wins, we feel like winners. When our group loses, we feel like losers. And we’re willing to sacrifice real resources for that sense of victory.
Mr. Tajfel’s subjects, however, had relatively weak attachments to their groups. Partisans have much stronger attachments.
This desire for winning exists in all social group members, most fiercely among those who feel that their group status is threatened or fragile. When it comes to Democrats and Republicans, status threats — that is, elections — are frequent and highly visible. They are also increasingly part of the discussion of legislation, with the news media reporting on which side “won” a vote on a particular bill.
This partisan competition is not new. What is new is the second part of the story. As individuals, we hold multiple identities (being white is an identity, as is being a farmer, a man or a runner). Some are more important than others, and the most important are the ones whose status is threatened. In recent decades, our most salient identities have moved into alignment with our parties.
In a commencement address at the Naval Academy last month, President Trump revisited a familiar theme. He remarked to the graduates: “Winning is such a great feeling, isn’t it? Winning is such a great feeling. Nothing like winning – you got to win.” He later repeated the idea: “Victory, winning, beautiful words, but that is what it is all about.”
This focus on victory is not new for Mr. Trump. During his presidential campaign, Mr. Trump promised that under his leadership the audience would “get bored with winning.” He predicted that his fans would grow “so sick and tired of winning, you’re going to come to me and go, ‘Please, please, we can’t win anymore,’” and “I’m going to say, ‘I’m sorry but we’re going to keep winning, winning, winning.’”
The focus on winning is not incidental. It caters to a very primal need among humans to feel that we’re part of a group whose status is high and protected. This winning “we” is often a divisive concept, turning Americans against their fellow citizens. The story of how American politics has grown ever more focused on partisan victory instead of the greater good of the nation has two major components.
First, it is fundamental human nature to want our groups to win. Social psychological research pioneered by the Polish psychologist Henri Tajfel (who survived six years in a Nazi prison camp) worked to determine why groups of people try to destroy each other. Through a series of experiments called the "minimal group paradigm," Mr. Tajfel tried to locate the weakest level of group identification, the point at which people would not discriminate against an opposing group.
To his surprise, he couldn’t find it.
No matter how he divided up the subjects in his study (overestimators versus underestimators, Klee-lovers versus Kandinsky-lovers), they had a bias for the group they were in and a bias against the group they weren’t members of.
In a money allocation task, participants were given a choice between both groups receiving the maximum amount of money, or the subjects’ in-group receiving less than the maximum, but more than the out-group. People reliably chose group victory.
Mr. Tajfel explained this by linking our group status to our individual status. When our group wins, we feel like winners. When our group loses, we feel like losers. And we’re willing to sacrifice real resources for that sense of victory.
Mr. Tajfel’s subjects, however, had relatively weak attachments to their groups. Partisans have much stronger attachments.
This desire for winning exists in all social group members, most fiercely among those who feel that their group status is threatened or fragile. When it comes to Democrats and Republicans, status threats — that is, elections — are frequent and highly visible. They are also increasingly part of the discussion of legislation, with the news media reporting on which side “won” a vote on a particular bill.
This partisan competition is not new. What is new is the second part of the story. As individuals, we hold multiple identities (being white is an identity, as is being a farmer, a man or a runner). Some are more important than others, and the most important are the ones whose status is threatened. In recent decades, our most salient identities have moved into alignment with our parties.
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18 comments:
What ever happened to the old adage, "It doesn't matter if you win or lose but how you played the game!" My coach used to tell us if we played like we were suppose to play and developed our talents, then it would be a given -
you would win, regardless. Another teacher taught us that when we do something for whatever reason, we should do our best the first time we did it, or otherwise we would have to redo it. Make sure that what you do is the best you can do and you do it because you know it is the right thing to do.
Whatever happened to those teachings! We were also told that there was no "I" in team and that our team was only as good as we were. Putting our skills together would make a whole.
Now its "to each his own" no matter of whom you screwed; just make sure that you put as much as you can in your pockets. The only thing we put in our pockets that really matter were those canicas/marbles that we use to win with skill. Enough said!
It is because of people like you that trump won.
To: June 7, 2018 at 11:18 PM
If you don't have anything useful to say don't say it. MENSO
Life is a competition. One who has ambition wants to be achieve certain goals. To achieve those goals means the person is going to compete with others who have the same goals. Americans are spoiled and have become socialists; which means they want the government to protect them from having to compete for the basic things in life. Becoming a socialist society means citizens want something for nothing....sort of like the life most young people today are living...dependent on their parents or family to protect them from having to compete in life.
Win economically under Trump in 18 months versus stagnate and then decline for a continuous 8 years under Obama? Ain't much time required to decide which is better for America. You'd have to be an academic at the University of MD to view it differently. Oh, she is. 'nuff said.
Thank you.
But how do you know me?
Let me see how this works. Unemployment is at a 50 year low. Hispanic and Black unemployment is at a historic low. There are more jobs available than people to fill them. NOKO is talking about getting ride of their nukes.
There are many, many positive things Trump has done in his scant time in office, but he is loosing?
Compartmental ism has been used in Politics and subjugation for ever, it is nothing new. Read Machiavelli.
Obama was the king of the use of Tribalism, he did it by injecting The Race Card into pretty much everything he did; that along with his Cult of Personality that many bought into, typical Socialist Protocol for change, read "Rules for Radicals", Alinski.
You can color what is happening anyway that you want, but basically it is Socialism vs The Free Market. Read Dreams from My Father; BHO or Barry Santero.
Ms Mason cannot get past the idea that there are enough people in the US that do not want a Socialist State. Read Karl Marx.
Further more she does not believe that people have the capability to make decisions on their own, only the Government can make them for them, "Animal World" or "Lord of the Flies".
Fake posters nothing else. Learned that from the racist REPUBLICAN your president.
Trump hate has causes the left to divorce itself from facts, logic and reason. It is nothing but hate, hate and more hate. This country is being torn to pieces by hate and the death of civil discourse. We are more divided than any times since the Civil War. There are some that are predicting Civil War 2.0 and every day, with crap like this article, it seems closer than the day before.
Is there any blogger or media outlet that is willing to stop beating the hate drum....anybody?
@ June 8, 2018, at 12:17PM
I say let it play out, so does Thomas Jefferson.
We are a land of Rebellion and Revolution.
Extract from Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith
Paris Nov. 13. 1787.
the people can not be all, & always, well informed. the part which is wrong [. . .] will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. if they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. we have had 13. states independant 11. years. there has been one rebellion. that comes to one rebellion in a century & a half for each state. what country before ever existed a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? let them take arms. the remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. what signify a few lives lost in a century or two?
the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. it is it’s natural manure.
Trump is the just the start, moving forward, winning.........
To Mr. Hate at: June 8, 2018 at 12:17 PM
It starts at the top your your hate able racist republican president. Ignorant fool...
Thank God Trump won!!!!!
Enough said!!!!
Your coach must have been a loser.
Yea we lost every game...
But if we lost, we knew we had done our best and acted like human beings who respected the other team. That is what is wrong with all of us. We must win at all costs! For that reason, we won many track and field events at the state level and in order to qualify for state, you needed talent and pride.
We got that from our coach and not from the public like some of you.
Thank the Electoral College for really putting their powers to select one person who was not elected by the majority of the population. Let's see how it goes in China; he made a mess in Canada and can't wait to see what crap he gets into with Chin-su-mai or whatever his name is.
A dog pees to mark his territory this idiot defecates to say "mine or he's terrified and has lost control of his bladder and/or bowels. Leg-lifting is the primary way and that may have stirred some kind of concern when he was in Russia.
Remedies: Spay (or neuter) first, this could be too late now, resolve conflicts this too could be impossible to do, Make friends not likely, restrict or try to limit access objects or devices that get him into this situation again impossible, consult a behaviorist or as a last resort sent him to North Korea.
Bull Shit
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