Misconceptions about social identity and the power of social norms

Issue 56: A recap of Dom & Jays's Book event at the SNF Agora Institute from the Johns Hopkins University Newspaper

A couple weeks ago we hosted our first join public book event at the SNF Agora Institute. It was covered in a report from Arantza Garcia in the Johns Hopkins University News-Letter so we have printed the coverage below (with permission).

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Agora Institute hosted co-authors Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer on Oct. 21 to discuss their latest book, The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony.

Van Bavel is a professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at New York University and Packer is a professor of Psychology at Lehigh University. Their book explores the role of social identity in shaping social norms, identity politics, democracy and issues of inequality. 

Alison Taylor, an adjunct professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, moderated the talk.

While identity is a widely-used term, the speakers examined how misconceptions surrounding it exacerbate modern con…