Such willingness to offer the ultimate self-sacrifice for genetic strangers has puzzled scientists since Darwin.’ These ties were so strong that in many cases, they were willing to die for one another. Although most fighters were not related, they characteristically expressed feelings of brotherhood for each other. Lead author Harvey Whitehouse, from the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford, said: ‘This research suggests that the old adage about “bonding in adversity” is true. However, until now little research has been done into how bonding with the group leads individuals to place themselves in harm’s way and sacrifice themselves for others in the group. ![]() There is a large body of research into how cohesion in the military affects the performance of the group. Nearly half (45%) of frontline fighters chose their own battalion rather than their family while only 28% of battalion expressed that preference.īy contrast, only 1% of those in the battalions surveyed were fused with ordinary Libyans who supported the revolution but did not join the battalions. Participants were then asked which of the groups they were most fused with. However, perhaps more strikingly, a similar level (97%) also indicated fusion with their own battalions and 96% with fighters in other battalions. Researchers found that nearly all (99%) of frontline fighters had strong bonds or ‘fused’ identity’ with their own family. Participants who chose the picture in which the ‘self’ overlapped completely with the group were said to be ‘fused’ with the group in question. Each individual was asked to represent their relationship to the group by choosing from a series of pictures that represented different degrees of overlap between themselves and three groups: their families, their battalions and other battalions. They measured levels of ‘identity fusion’ – a visceral sense of oneness with the group that has been used in many previous studies as a measure of the extent to which individuals are aligned with groups. Together they persuaded the revolutionary leadership in Misrata to allow them interview and survey 179 civilians from four different battalions that were registered with the Misratan Military Council. Lead author Professor Harvey Whitehouse joined McQuinn as the conflict was ending. While there, he studied how the rebels began as groups of three to five fighters that later developed into the revolutionary groups which prayed, slept and fought side by side in their effort to overthrow the Gaddafi-led regime. ![]() In July 2011, four months into the Libyan revolution, one of the Oxford authors Brian McQuinn joined a humanitarian relief convoy travelling to Misrata. ![]() The findings are published in the early online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study, funded by an ESRC grant at the University of Oxford, suggests that the strongest bonds evolve through sharing bad times, such as the deprivation and negative stress of combat. When asked to choose between family and battalion as the group they were most bonded with, frontline fighters were more likely than non-fighters to choose battalion. The survey included revolutionaries who served on the frontline with an assault rifle and non-fighters, such as workers who serviced vehicles or drove ambulances. The bonds among frontline fighters were the strongest of all. A study published today of Libyan revolutionaries surveyed during the 2011 conflict has found that they were as strongly bonded with each other as with their own families.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |