Coalitional instincts: what are they, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages?

Let's see what coalitional instincts are and how they are embodied in human behavior.

The American anthropologist John Tooby was the one who proposed the idea that the concept called "coalitional instincts" should be given greater recognition within psychology and the scientific community because he considers that they have a great influence on society and on people's beliefs.

Coalitional instincts are considered by many evolutionary scientists as an inherent characteristic of human nature that considerably influences people's behavior within their social environment.

In this post we will explain what the concept of coalitional instincts consists of, as well as the way in which they can influence people's lives.

What are coalitional instincts?

Although there is no agreed definition for this concept, it is quite accepted that coalitional instincts are a repertoire of innate and universal instincts that influence the way human beings behave in social contexts..

These instincts move people to seek to form a group, belong to an association, defend certain values, oppose or resist doing certain things, attack in certain contexts; in short, to form various coalitions in different contexts that move a person to act in different ways depending on whether he or she has been moved by one type of coalition or another.

Each coalition is made up of a group of people who see themselves and/or are seen by others as sharing a particular identity that they all have in common.

This way of looking at others is characteristic of human beings, since, throughout evolution, we have acquired the ability to join in coalitions knowing that two people can beat one, three can beat two and so on. Throughout evolution we have acquired the ability to join together in coalitions knowing that two people can beat one, three can beat two and so on, and so on.The alpha males dominate the alpha males to a coalition group where members join forces to respond to the dangers and external threats to the group, because if someone was left alone he was at the mercy of others and his life was in danger, so the coalitional instincts motivated all human beings to belong to a group for protection.

Thus, it has been demonstrated that forming coalitions has been of great help to solve certain challenges in groups, because they could not be solved individually, it has great advantages.

That is why we descend from those who knew how to correctly use their coalitional instincts to unite their forces and survive.We have inherited these instincts. For this very reason, in our days we follow our coalitional instincts to be part of various types of coalitions (at work, in the family, different social groups, associations, sports teams, and even by nationalities, among others).

Coalitional instincts as a need to belong to a group.

Coalitional instincts generate the need in human beings to belong to a coalition, and in some cases, this need to be part of a coalition could, among other things, be the reason why some groups have a series of strange beliefs that are disconnected with reality (for example, in sects).

These instincts could even be one of the reasons for the need to be part of a group, even if it is a group of radical ideas in which its members consider themselves morally superior to those who do not share their ideas. members consider themselves morally superior to those who do not share their ideas, and a rejection of them is produced. and a rejection towards them is produced.

Moreover, in some groups a series of requirements are demanded of those who want to be part of the group, among which is usually unconditional support for the group against those who are against their ideas.

On the other hand, there are numerous cross-cultural studies that have demonstrated that human beings, in addition to being social, are cooperative by nature.This could be proved by studying the way thousands of children from different cultures behave socially, where they proved to be psychologically adapted to cooperate with other people.

Problems that can be generated by coalitional instincts

On some occasions, coalitional instincts can generate conflicts in various sectors such as science, politics or sports.

In the science sector, when coalitions are formed by some scientists on the basis of certain research questions, it can be detrimental if they maintain an iron and inflexible position based on the ideas of the coalition formed, in such a way that moralize the scientific process, making it difficult for another group toIt is difficult for another group to challenge the validity of their research.

Even when results against the hypotheses supported by their coalition are demonstrated, these groups could put their interests above scientific truth, which is what should prevail over their own interests for the common good, since science, above all, should seek development and progress based on verifiable discoveries, without being biased by the ideals of any coalition.

Therefore, it is not infrequent that throughout history all kinds of attacks have been generated between different coalitions of members belonging to different scientific scholastics based on a struggle to be right. Something very similar to what has occurred on the part of different political parties, radical ideological groups, even in groups of supporters of sports teams..

When a group is driven by unhealthy coalitional instincts, the background of the matter may be based on various motives, such as dominance of a territory, status, struggle for certain resources, gaining power, moral strength, etc.

Also, in this kind of coalitions there is often a situation when the members of their coalition criticize a certain behavior of a person outside their group, If a member of their group were to act in a similar way, they would come to forgive their actions and even justify their behavior..

However, coalitional instincts do not generate conflicts in all cases, but tend to occur when groups are formed on the basis of a series of extremist ideas and the members of the group maintain a closed and inflexible position, without opening the door to debate.

Apart from these extreme cases, have generally helped human beings to form groupsThe group psychology is a way of uniting the forces of each and every one of the members of different groups, in such a way that great achievements have been made that a single person would not have been able to achieve, as we mentioned at the beginning of this article.

Coalitional instincts in the workplace.

Coalitional instincts, just as they allowed human beings to join forces as members of a group to get ahead and survive in difficult situations, nowadays, they can also be positive for a better development in the workplace..

Coalitions develop when different people come together for a common cause and, in the case of a workplace, that would be to fulfill the objectives of the company they work for, with each member contributing their bit with the tasks they have to perform, so that when everyone fulfills their roles, those objectives are usually achieved.

There are business leaders who are interested in fostering the creation of such coalitions within the workplace because they can be a great tool for creating a good atmosphere in the workplace that helps their employees coordinate and work more efficiently, helping each other. With good cohesion and performance in the workplace, workers are more likely to achieve extrinsic rewards (financial benefits) and intrinsic rewards (being satisfied with their work).

To this end, it can be useful for leaders to encourage their employees to search for a common meaning about the company, so that they all have the same sense of belonging and the connection between them and with the company is intensified, which could be seen as the company's identity.

These situations can also occur in other contexts that facilitate the development of coalitions, for example, among students and students of the company.for example, among the students of a university faculty, the athletes of the same team, etc.