Theory
Conceptualising negational group identities as a construct distinct from affirmative identities.
Fritz Thyssen Foundation · 2026–2028
Not Like Them
Why do so many political conflicts now revolve less around what people are than around what they refuse to be? Not Like Them develops the concept of negational group identities: identities anchored in the rejection of an outgroup rather than in attachment to an ingroup.
partisanissue-basedspatial / regionalgenerational
01The Question
the project →
01
What are the socio-psychological origins of negational identities?
Who is drawn to rejection-based identities, and which personality traits and emotions drive their formation and activation?
02
How do negational identities affect political cohesion?
What do identities built on shared rejection do to trust between citizens and to trust in democratic institutions, horizontally and vertically?
03
How do different types of negational identity vary in their corrosive effects?
Do partisan, issue-based, spatial, and generational rejections work through the same mechanisms, or differ in how they erode pluralism?
02Work Packages
research plan →
WP1
WP2
Antecedents
Personality traits and emotions as drivers of who forms negational identities, and when.
WP3
Consequences
The effects of negational identities on horizontal and vertical political cohesion.
03People
full team →04Latest
all news →2026
New project: Negational identities and the crisis of political cohesion
A new two-year project at the Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Bamberg, funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, asks why so many political conflicts now revolve less around what people are than around what they refuse to be.