Identity Fusion: The Personal Self And Social Self

Identity fusion is a form of identity that connects to other types of identities. To understand this better, consider that we all have at least two identities. One is our personal identity or the personal self and the other is our social identity or social self.

Your personal self is directly related to your personality. That is, you can be extroverted, polite, neurotic, and so on.

Whatever the case may be, your personal self will consist of the various traits that define you. On the other hand, the social itself comes from the groups you belong to. For example, you may have a social self based on family, country, religion, ethnicity, sports team, etc. Each of these identities has rules, values ​​and roles.

But how should we behave? Should we prioritize our personality traits or the rules of the group? It depends on which of your identities are activated. Usually your personal self is activated. That means you act according to your personality.

On some occasions, however, the group is more important. At these times, you will adapt to the role you have in the group, as well as the rules of the group. One situation where this occurs frequently is when the group feels threatened.

Problems integrating the two selves

The relationship between the personal self and the social self creates some problems:

• Motivation is what drives your behavior. On the one hand, you are motivated by your personal self, and your behavior will correspond to your identity. If, on the other hand, you are motivated by your social self, your behavior will be determined by the rules and roles that exist in your group.

• The members of a group define themselves with respect for their social identity. Therefore, one can consider the members of a group to be synonymous. In many groups, for example, there is one who plays the role of clown. As a member of the group, it does not matter whether it is one or the other person who plays the role. What is important is that someone can fill the role, regardless of who it is.
• The extent to which we identify with a group will depend on the context. Changes will change to the extent that you identify with a group. For example, if your sports team wins an important competition, your social self will be very strongly linked to it. Nevertheless, as the days go by after the victory, this bond will weaken.

Identity fusion

Identity fusion is defined as an inner sense of togetherness with a group. In people with a fused identity, the bond with the group will be so strong that the boundaries between personal and social identities will be blurred. What do we mean by this?

This means that even when just one of the identities is activated, it can affect the others. For example, when others question the personality of an individual with identity fusion, it will cause him or her to defend his or her identity with his or her group.

This new connection between the two identities leads to the development of a strong sense of interconnection within the group. This connection increases the motivation of each of the group members to do the same for the group as they would do for themselves. At the same time, the personal relationships within the group also become stronger.

Principles of identity fusion

The primary principles of identity fusion are:

• Acting-personal self-principle:  It claims that the actions of fused peoples reflect their personal self as well as their social self. In such a case, each of the group members cannot be replaced because their personalities, as well as their role within the group, are valued.
• Identity Synergy Principle:  This principle suggests that personal and social identities can be intertwined. This will give rise to a high degree of motivation to take actions that benefit the group. It will be the first people to work together. Furthermore, any achievement will make them collaborate even more on a personal level as well as group level.
• Relational ties:  According to this principle, people who have fused identities where both their personal and social selves are very strong believe that the other members of the group also have them. Therefore, they value the members of the group’s personalities and social identities. Strong relationships will ultimately result from this.

• Irrevocable principle:  According to irrevocability, the self will remain fused regardless of the context. The bonds we have built with the other members of the group strengthen the sense of fusion and make it permanent. In addition to this, even though you may have many social identities, the merger will only occur with one group. It exclusively causes the individual to refrain from developing strong identities with other groups and keeps the fusion strong.

Which side dominates?

In conclusion, the relationship between the personal self and the social self tends to be mutually exclusive. That is, either one is activated or the other is. 

However, these selves are fused in some people and they give feedback to each other. It enables these people to do more things for the benefit of their groups. Therefore, your behavior will depend on whether your identity is fused or not.