From the author: We are predisposed towards members of our own group, and this phenomenon is called in-group favoritism. I root only for our own! About groups, cohesion and conflicts in theory and practice Why do we not allow a single bad word to be said to our relative, for example our mother? Why are we friends with classmates all our lives, forgiving all their “mistakes”? Why do we stand up for colleagues from our department at a general meeting? It would seem that the answer is simple. “We just love them!!!” And why you JUST love them is somehow out of the question. The point is that the laws of the psyche are at work here, namely, the phenomenon of in-group favoritism. In simple words, in-group favoritism is love for the group to which we belong. Family, study group, team at work - these are all our groups. We do not always choose which group to join and who will be our companion. They don’t choose relatives at all! But we still love them, protect them, accept them and justify them. Because they are simply within our group. In fact, this is not unconditional love. There are several reasons why members of our group automatically receive a “privileged” position in our heart: they are like us, you all study the same subjects, you are all the same age, you all live in the same apartment, you are all dealing with the same report, (choose your option) - yes, common activities bring people together, and also form common values, goals, even influence the character of people and their habits, making everyone a little more similar to each other. your group is stable and legitimate. Don’t underestimate the power of stability! If your group exists stably and is formally defined as an academic group at a university, this gives confidence in the future that you will return here, to these people. And thus you accept them and the situation better, because everything is stable and legal. you are a group among other, “alien” groups Yes, besides your family, there are also families on the floor below, in addition to your class “a” at school there are also classes “b” and “c”, besides your organization there are also teams of other organizations. The fact is that the presence of “strangers” increases the love for “our own”! We unite with “our own” in order to resist “outsiders” (usually psychologically, of course), and thereby we begin to value more people who belong specifically to our group. We are dependent on our group. Despite all your personal independence, integrity, health, it’s all the same a group can influence your life. You will be fired from your job and you will be left without a stable income for some time, will your life change in any way? Of course yes. Accordingly, the actions of the group may change something specifically for you, putting you in a relatively dependent position. Realizing some kind of dependence, we become more attached to our group and, again, love the members of this group more. Where does all this information come from? We formulated these theses based on the experiments of Henri Tashfel, a social psychologist of the 20th century who studied groups and the individual’s awareness of group membership. He also developed the theory of social identity (about how and why we attribute ourselves to any society and how society influences us) Attention! Practical part How to use this information in practice? So, we are predisposed towards members of our own group, and this phenomenon is called in-group favoritism. Sometimes it is important to INCREASE the cohesion of your group, eliminate conflicts, bring the team closer together (there are constant quarrels in the family? At work, someone constantly spoils the atmosphere in the office? These are all the same options!) And here we remember WHERE in-group favoritism comes from, 4 main reasons, and we work with them: focus on what the group has in common; ensure the stability of the group, as well as “initiate” the group members (rituals, official events, membership cards, even signing membership documents); get to know your competitors (competitions, participation in.