How The Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together: An Interview about Tribalism with Michael Morris
Issue 141: Why Tribalism is not always a cause of division
In a world increasingly divided by politics, culture, and identity, understanding human tribalism—and how cultural instincts shape our behavior—has never been more relevant. In his new book Tribal: How The Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together, Columbia professor and cultural psychologist Michael Morris reveals that our tribal instincts, often blamed for polarization and conflict, are actually the key to cooperation and solidarity. By rethinking tribalism not as the cause of division, but as a set of evolved social tendencies, Michael offers a roadmap for harnessing the science of human behavior to create positive change in our communities, workplaces, and beyond.
Michael explains that tribal instincts are adaptive systems that help us navigate the complexities of modern life, from the workplace to the political arena. He adds that current narrative of “toxic tribalism” that is blamed for division and conflict in society oversimplifies the nature of group dynamics. As a result of rapidly changing society, our instincts do become mismatched sometimes. For example, modern humans’ taste for sweet foods evolved so that our evolutionary ancestors would eat fruit—but this instinct now drives overindulgence when sugar is so easily accessible. His book explains how these tendencies can be managed and redirected to build healthier, more harmonious societies.
In his interview, Michael explains the key ideas of Tribal which previews an understanding of the psychology of tribes in everyday life. From political polarization to workplace discrimination, he argues that many of today’s most pressing conflicts arise from tribal instincts going unchecked, and provides practical advice for de-escalating tensions and fostering greater cooperation. Follow Michael on Twitter/X here and visit his website to learn more about Tribal and purchase the book.
What is the most important idea readers will learn from your book?
Tribes are the form of social organization characteristic of humans: large communities glued together by shared culture. We can live this way only because of tribal instincts—psychological systems to acquire and enact cultural patterns—that evolved during the Stone Age. Scientists used to debate nature versus nurture, but we have concluded that human nature is nurture. Humans became wired by evolution to internalize the patterns of the communities that nurture us. This evolutionary wiring—the tribal instincts—made us who we are and still shape us today.
We all carry multiple tribes inside us. That is, we internalize national, religious, professional, organizational, and avocational cultures. They can't all guide us at once, so they take turns.
In each new social situation that we enter, different cultural frames get triggered and come to the fore to filter our experience and influence our actions. Over the long term, a group's cultural codes evolve with changes in its experiences. Hence, cultures are manageable and malleable. Leaders can manage which cultures are triggered in a situation. They can influence the direction that a culture evolves.
There were three basic waves of tribal adaptations, and we can recognize these impulses in our social behavior today.
The Peer Instinct to imitate those around us. The peer instinct remains in our sideways glances at classmates, coworkers, and neighbors–and our urge to match what they do.
The Hero Instinct to emulate those with status. The hero instinct persists in our reflexive attention to VIPs, MVPs, and CEOs, etc—and our aspirations to attain similar glory and tribute.
The Ancestor Instinct to perpetuate the ways of past generations. The ancestor instinct continues in our backwards-gazing curiosity about founders, predecessors, and traditional practices--and the obligation we feel to maintain traditions.
The three instincts create distinctive kinds of shared knowledge in groups: peer codes, hero codes, and ancestor codes. Much of the knowledge shared in any culture consists of these three kinds of codes. Most of the book describes the levers for leading people through culture that come with an understanding of peer, hero, and ancestor codes. In the short term, each of these layers of culture can be activated by distinctive situational triggers. In the longer term, each can be altered by different social signals.
Why did you write this book and how did writing it change you?
I have conducted cultural psychology research for decades. At the same time, I’ve taught practically-minded students at top business schools. I wrote this book to share the toolkit that I've developed for leading groups through their cultures. By "lead" I mean influence from any position. It's a playbook not just for the boss of an organization, but also for its middle managers, employees, customers, and fans.
What will readers find provocative or controversial about your book?
In the last decade, tribalism has been called the culprit for many of the world's pressing problems. The pundits posit that a drive to hate outsiders, an innate animosity, has re-awoken to ruin our pluralistic institutions.
This trope of toxic tribalism makes for riveting journalism, but not for effective policies. Its despairing and inaccurate.
It's not a picture of tribal instincts that an evolutionist would recognize. Our species has distinctive adaptations for culture and group living, but these are instincts for solidarity not for hostility. Like any instincts they can go awry sometimes, especially if they get caught up in feedback loops. For instance, our taste for sweet foods evolved so that our forebears would eat fruit. For people today who live surrounded by donut shops, it can lead to problematic indulgence. That doesn’t mean its a gluttony instinct and we are doomed to obesity. If we want to help people eat better, its important to understand the instinct involved.
Do you have any practical advice for people who want to apply these ideas?
While our tribal loyalties can contribute to conflicts that come to involve hostilities, it's a mistake to assume that these conflicts start from hostility. The diagnosis of innate animosity doesn't help us de-escalate. Instead we should try to diagnose escalating conflicts in terms of our actual tribal psychology—the peer, hero and ancestor instincts. Each one of these adaptive instincts can cycle out of range under some conditions and become dysfunctional. Recognizing these dynamics of adaptive tribal instincts gone awry helps point to ameliorative solutions.
For instance, I review evidence that the conflict between the red and blue parties arises not from hate but from "epistemic tribalism," unchecked peer instinct conformity. Hence, people who want to reduce their partisan blindness are well served by removing themselves from the environments that chronically trigger their red-tribe or blue-tribe peer codes, such as politically homogenous neighborhoods. Another example I discuss is the ongoing ethnic discrimination in the workplace. I review evidence that this arises not from hate but from "ethical tribalism," unchecked hero-instinct generosity toward ingroups. Hence, a key to reducing it in a workplace is changing policies like hiring for cultural fit or referral systems that facilitate unconscious in-group favoritism.
News and Updates
Dom gave an interview to Science for the Church, discussing drivers of conflict and animosity between groups. Read Part 1 here…
“Consider realistic conflict theory: it’s easier to dislike another group if we are competing for a scarce resource. So when leaders make us feel like resources are scarce, it can drive us apart, creating feelings of animosity while animating their base. Consider rhetoric around immigrants taking our jobs. It implies that there’s not enough jobs to go around… The evidence suggests that immigration has been a net positive and has driven economic growth. But this kind of rhetoric animates our group identities by fostering a sense of competitiveness.”
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Catch Up On The Last One…
Last week’s newsletter was a special column for paid subscribers only, the fourth of our debunking series. Dom tells the story of how he purchased and reviewed an original copy of Milgram’s research reports and realized that textbooks and educators have misrepresented Milgram’s obediance experiments.
