Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 December 2018
A comprehensive explanation of extreme self-sacrifice would ideally clarify not only the proximate mechanisms leading to this behaviour, but also its developmental origins, its functions (if any), and its history. The theoretical framework set out in my target article has something to say about all of these dimensions, and many of the criticisms raised in the commentaries can therefore be addressed under those four main headings. In my response, I also discuss a set of proposals for further extending the framework. Finally, I conclude by distilling from the discussion a host of novel questions requiring further investigation.
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Target article
Dying for the group: Towards a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice
Related commentaries (29)
A potential explanation for self-radicalisation
Accumulative fusion and the issue of age: Reconciling the model with the data
Altruism, collective rationality, and extreme self-sacrifice
Communal sharing/identity fusion does not require reflection on episodic memory of shared experience or trauma – and usually generates kindness
Considering selection pressures for identity fusion and self-sacrifice in small-scale societies
Does identity fusion give rise to the group – or the reverse? Politics- versus community-based groups
Dying for your group or for your faith? On the power of belief
Extreme self-sacrifice beyond fusion: Moral expansiveness and the special case of allyship
Identity fusion and fitness interdependence
Identity fusion “in the wild”: Moving toward or away from a general theory of identity fusion?
Individual difference in acts of self-sacrifice
Individuals, traditions, and the righteous
Motivational (con)fusion: Identity fusion does not quell personal self-interest
Origins of social fusion
Segregation and belief polarization as boundary conditions for when fusion leads to self-sacrifice
Self-sacrifice as a social signal
Self-sacrifice for a cause: The role of ideas and beliefs in motivating human conflict
Self-sacrifice for in-group's history: A diachronic perspective
Strength in numbers: A survival strategy that helps explain social bonding and commitment
The analytic utility of distinguishing fighting from dying
The fire burns within: Individual motivations for self-sacrifice
The importance of environmental threats and ideology in explaining extreme self-sacrifice
The motivation to sacrifice for a cause reflects a basic cognitive bias
The power of norms to sway fused group members
The role of entitativity in perpetuating cycles of violence
Toward a more comprehensive theory of self-sacrificial violence
What fuses sports fans?
What motivates devoted actors to extreme sacrifice, identity fusion, or sacred values?
“Self-sacrifice” as an accidental outcome of extreme within-group mutualism
Author response
Four things we need to know about extreme self-sacrifice