Pride

Building pride in the group is a very important aspect of bonding.

Most people seek dominance; they want to be winners; they want to be esteemed; so also with groups.

Sometimes individuals with low self-esteem are the "joiners" of groups and the fanatics within the groups because these individuals seek in the group that which they are lacking in themselves. These are the "True Believers," as Eric Hofer has called them, and they exist not only in every political group, but also in religious and ethnic groups, among athletic "fans," and so on: "Be proud of your . . . Race, Faith, County, School, Team...."I'm proud to be American, Southern, Irish, Black, Chicano . . ."

Groups can manipulate the individual's need for esteem, approval by others, because groups have the power to confer or withhold esteem, to honor or to shame. Groups can manipulate the individual's need for a sense of belonging because groups have the power to accept or to reject. Thus, groups can exert great pressures for the individual to live up to the expectations of the group.

On the other hand, if the group or cause doesn't live up to its own standards, or to the expectations of the individual, the disillusioned individual can do little except withdraw from the group.

While individual pride is often condemned as being improper, egocentric, selfish, or sinful ("pride goeth before the fall"), extravagant pride in the group is encouraged ("We're Number One," ". . . our great nation," ". . . this grand and glorious flag . . . ") as building morale, esprit de corps, school spirit, and so on. Thus, many superlatives intensifying the "good" of the group are likely to be common.