How group life makes personal agency possible

An uncharitable view of social groups is of autonomy-sapping collectives that stymie personal expression, impose rigid social norms and roles, and force individuals to act in line with “the greater good”, regardless of how good it is for the self. Beyond ungenerous, this view may even be opposite to the role groups play in helping individuals achieve the things they want in life. In this chapter, I argue that—far from hindering personal pursuits—groups can aid them by acting as a source of personal agency, efficacy, and control. More specifically, adopting a social identity approach yields insight into the ways in which belonging to, and identifying with, important groups can help people feel more personally in control of their lives, actions, and outcomes. I outline theoretical and empirical evidence for this argument, as well as discussing conditions under which the group identity–personal control link does and does not operate. This analysis has the potential to provide new insight into the forces that guide human behavior, with consequences for understanding personal outcomes like well-being, as well as group outcomes like collective action. Fundamentally—and perhaps ironically—it may be through others that our own personal agency is unlocked and unleashed to motivate and sustain us.