Welcome to THE POWER of US
Jay Van Bavel & Dominic Packer
The world contains about 8 billion people, but many more identities. As Walt Whitman noted: each of us contains multitudes. And as different of our identities come in and out of focus, or new ones are formed, they change how we think, feel, and act.
At the heart of our blog is the fundamental idea that understanding how identity works allows people to take control, moving beyond wondering, “Who am I?” to answer instead, “Who do I want to be?”
The Power of Us will draw on research we love in psychology, economics, political science, and neuroscience to understand social identity, group dynamics, and collective behavior.
This is a blog for people who want to get smarter about groups and make groups smarter.
We will explain how identity really works and how it can be harnessed to boost cooperation and productivity, overcome bias, escape from echo chambers, break political gridlock, foster dissent and mobilize for change, lead effectively, and galvanize action to address persistent problems.
If this sounds interesting to you, we hope you will join us!
Our goal is for this be more than a one-way street. We hope to build a community of people interested in group dynamics — and will seek your ideas, insights, and input as we explore the world through the lens of identity.
We are both professors in psychology who have been studying these topics for the past two decades. We have conducted countless studies and written over a 100 scientific papers on this topic. Now we want to make our work and insights easy to use for everyone, whether they you are running an organization, coaching your daughter’s soccer team, or just trying to make sense of the crazy things you are reading in the news.
Our goal is to make you smarter about how groups operate, but also give you the tools to avoid falling prey to the dark appeals of group dynamics and harnessing these insights to help inspire collective action in your own corner of the world.
We plan to post here every few weeks. But if you find yourself wanting to read more, check out our forthcoming book, called “THE POWER of US: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony” and free NEWSLETTER. Please sign up to get a sneak peak on our blog, exciting new science, and learn more about events on these topics.
