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Group behavior in the military may provide a unique case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2016

Rose McDermott
Rose McDermott*
Affiliation:
Brown University, Department of Political Science, Providence, RI 02902. rose_mcdermott@brown.edu
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Abstract

The optimal functioning of male coalitionary behavior in a military context may run contrary to some of the arguments about the importance of individual differentiation in Baumeister et al. Incentives become institutionally inverted within military contexts. Because the history of combat exerted powerful and sustained selection pressures on male groups, individual identification can work against the successful completion of collective action problems surrounding in-group defense in military contexts.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e158
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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