What it means to contain multitudes

Issue 33: Key lessons about social identity from 'The Power of Us'; understanding stereotypes through the lens of identity; effective role models; and the psychology of competitive parenting

We were recently asked to distill five big lessons from our book for the Next Big Idea Club. We have decided to share those lessons here as a fresh introduction for anyone who hasn’t yet read the book (and as a refresher for people who have!).

We’ll start with three lessons now and share two more next week. We also recorded an audio version for the Next Big Idea App if you want to listen to us talk about them.

1. We contain multitudes.

We are social psychologists who study how people’s identities affect how they perceive and understand the world, and how they make decisions. If we’re chatting with a stranger on a long flight, we might have them play a little game in which they complete the statement “I am ____” twenty times. Dom would say, “I am a professor, a father, a Canadian, a foodie, a bit shy, a fiction lover, etc.” while Jay would say, “I am a former hockey player, a New Yorker, a sports fan, a politics junkie, etc.”

Some of these things are individual in nature, characteristics…