A TRIBAL CALL TO ARMS: PROPAGANDA AND WHAT PVE CAN LEARN FROM ANTHROPOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY AND NEUROSCIE

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2. More from the article,

Propaganda Is a Tribal Call to Arms
What exactly is the role of propaganda in this context? Social psychology research findings indicate that propaganda is a “tribal” call, aiming to establish clear red lines between “us” and “them”. This call appeals to one of our most basic instincts – belonging to a group.
Psychological experiments on “social identity”, replicated over decades, show that humans form groups very easily (Ratner 2012). For our in-group to feel real, we need an out-group that is different and less attractive to us. In a state of competitiveness, over resources or the moral high ground, we then easily dismiss the “others” as being wrong, stupid, violent or dangerous.
This is what we see in extremist calls to arms. Extremist propaganda claims that competition is plainly evident, that the threat from the “others” is real, and that you need to act if you want to be a good member of that group.