Emotional tricks

Another potent spur to pro-group behavior is identity fusion--a strong feeling of oneness with the group. To understand this idea, recall that the social identity perspective says people distinguish between their personal identity (aspects of the self that make one unique) and their social identity (aspects of the self that align them with groups). The salience of these two identities ebbs and flows depending on the context. But for strongly fused individuals, the boundary between me and we dissipates; To measure identity fusion, researchers adapted the Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale (Aron et al. The scale asks people to choose from among a series of pictures that represent varying degrees of overlap between two circles representing the self and their group (eg, their nation or political party). People who report high overlap of self and group identities are more willing to act for the good of their group, even if that means sacrificing their own well-being (Fredman et al. Swann & Buhrmester, 2015). There will be some tradeoffs, but once we begin to produce [fewer] carbon emissions we'll be surprised that it wasn't as hard as it was anticipated. Even in countries where climate inaction at the national level is rife, powerful actors are pressing forward to reduce carbon emissions. We Are Still In is a network of 3,850 American businesses, states, cities, faith groups, universities, museums, environmental organizations, and other entities that have joined together to continue their efforts to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions goals of the Paris Agreement. Together, they are responsible for nearly 70 percent of the country's gross domestic product and half of its population. If We Are Still In were a country, it would be the third-largest economy in the world. Similar initiatives are emerging in countries such as Vietnam, Argentina, South Africa, and Mexico, where local and regional governments are joining with businesses and climate activists to cut greenhouse gases, often in clear opposition to their national governments' plans to increase investments in fossil fuels. The role of businesses in these networks marks a noteworthy shift from a decade ago, when climate action and economic growth were often viewed as being in conflict. A 2018 report by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, an international commission made up of former heads of government, finance ministers, and leaders in business and economics, found that bold climate action could generate more than $26 trillion in benefits through 2030. Trend: Bye-bye, single-use plastic A rush of positive activity is happening around single-use plastic too. I sometimes tell him that he has been my salvation, because I don't know that I would still be going on if it weren't for his strength. I don't know that I would still walk with the Lord if it were not for his encouragement.

Knowing him has been the greatest experience in my life. When Life Changes There will be ups and downs throughout the life of a marriage. There will be massive changes--some predictable and others intrusive--that hold the potential for growth as well as risk. Many marriages die because too many people choose to ignore the inescapable fact that relationships and people change. A wife shared the following about dealing with the risk as well as the potential for growth: Since we have been married fifty years, you can just imagine how much change we have gone through: three wars, eleven presidents, five recessions, going from the Model-A [automobile] to the moon, from country roads to the information superhighway. While these changes around us have been great, the personal changes that God has enacted within us through each other have been even greater. Identity fusion A profound feeling of oneness with a group and a perception that one's personal identity and group identity are essentially the same. It is a strong motivator of collective action. The black power movement of the 1960s was promoted by prominent and successful African Americans, such as Tommie Smith and John Carlos, medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Identity fusion is more than simply group identification on steroids. It is a merging of two identities. To illustrate, when people low in identity fusion are led to think about their group identity, it changes how they plan to act with relation to their group (eg, they might be more likely to make sacrifices for their group). Still, the salience of a group identity doesn't affect how they understand themselves as individuals (Swann et al. Now consider people high in identity fusion. Thinking about their group identity also trickles down to change how they understand themselves. I sometimes serve as a volunteer judge at student science fairs, and I often encounter projects on plastic pollution done by children who have seen images of sea turtles choking on plastic bags. Many of them are among the 35 million viewers of a particularly gruesome YouTube video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw being removed from its nose.

These kids feel overwhelmed by the horror of plastic pollution and their inability to stop other people from using bags, straws, and other single-use plastics. Their concern is well-placed. Plastic makes up 80 percent of all ocean debris, and plastic bags are often described as the most ubiquitous consumer product on the planet. More than 127 countries have already imposed restrictions and bans on plastic bags, and even more action is happening at the level of cities, provinces, and states. The African continent leads the world in bag regulations, with thirty-four countries adopting taxes or bans. Thirty-one of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, the world's poorest region. Kenya's penalties are the world's most punitive, with manufacturers, importers, distributors, and users facing up to $38,000 in fines or four years in prison. Researchers say countries in the Global South, where clumps of plastic bags create breeding grounds for malaria-bearing mosquitoes and clog drainage systems, are leading the way with bans and stiffer penalties, whereas those in the Global North lean more heavily toward levies, taxes, and fees. Although we often couldn't see how God was working in our lives at that time, we look back now and realize that our marriage has been a school of character development. God has used my husband in my life and He's used me in his life to make us more like Christ. So what are the lessons we've learned about how God uses marriage to change us? There are many. Through 50 years of marriage we've learned that differences develop us, that crises cultivate us, and that ministry melts us together. First, God has used our differences to help us grow. There have been many, many crises that God has used to develop us and to grow us. The first one was the big one--the crisis of being separated as soon as we got married. Ours was a wartime romance. We met at church, dated two months and got married after three weeks of engagement; They don't think of themselves as an individual who happens to be in a group; SECTION REVIEW Leadership, Power, and Group Hierarchy

Most groups have leaders who wield power and are at the top of a hierarchy. Leadership Style In general, effective leaders match their approach to the needs of their followers. Depending on followers' needs, effective leaders can be charismatic, task oriented, or relationship oriented. Effects of Power Power leads people to be more approach oriented and less inhibited. People in power tend to have less empathy and can be less generous to those in need. They also act less ethically, but only if doing so serves themselves. Exceptions for certain kinds of plastic bags exist, even in places with bans. This may cause you to wonder if plastic-bag initiatives are more greenwashing than substance. But measures to target single-use plastic bags are yielding impressive results. For example, CalRecycle, California's state recycler, reported an 85 percent reduction in the number of bags used after California passed a statewide ban on plastic bags in 2016. Similar-sized drops occurred in Wales, Northern Ireland, England, and Scotland when major stores in the UK began charging the equivalent of six cents per bag. In a 2019 study, researchers revealed that people in all age, gender, and income groups in England substantially reduced their plastic-bag usage within a month after the charge was introduced. Even better, support for the plastic-bag charge created a spillover effect, increasing public support to reduce other forms of plastic waste. Bans on straws, cutlery, plates, and more are spreading quickly. In October 2019, the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted in a ban on single-use straws, stir sticks, cotton buds, and cutlery by 2021. They set higher recycling targets and strengthened the polluter pays principle--which means, for example, that manufacturers and not fishers will incur the cost of collecting nets lost at sea. When he returned, we were total strangers, but we were married to each other! How would you have handled that situation?

I think the following comments by a wife illustrate the lifelong expression of love and commitment: Real life death scenes aren't like the movies. My husband, too tall for a regulation bed, lay with his feet sticking out of the covers. I stood clinging to his toes as though that would save his life. I clung so that if I failed to save him from falling off the cliff of the present, of the here and now, we'd go together. That's how it was in the netherworld of the intensive care unit. It seemed that the entire world had turned into night. Cold and black. Hierarchies As societies grow, work shifts from basic divisions of labor to culturally defined roles. Power distance orientation varies among cultures. People tend to regard existing hierarchies as legitimate, even when they are disadvantaged by them. Social change occurs when successful members of disadvantaged groups encounter barriers and act collectively to change the status quo. People whose identity is fused with the group are more likely to engage in collective action. Why Do People Leave and Disidentify with Groups? Learning Outcomes Identify reasons that leaving a group may offer more benefits than staying with a group. Please accept my resignation. Meanwhile, a growing range of brands are using recycled ocean plastic in their products. Bureo makes sunglasses and skateboards from recycled fishing nets.