The Project

Not Like Them studies negational group identities (NGIs): identities defined primarily through the rejection of an outgroup rather than attachment to an ingroup. We argue NGIs operate through fundamentally different psychological mechanisms than affirmative identities, and ask what that difference means for the cohesion of pluralist democracies.

The concept

A negational group identity (NGI) is an identity anchored in the rejection of an outgroup rather than in attachment to an ingroup. NGIs achieve unity through shared rejection rather than shared traits, which makes outgroup hostility their definitional feature.

Key characteristics

Built on what people reject, not what they share
Achieve unity through shared rejection
Satisfy distinctiveness, but not belonging
Fast to mobilise, but fragile
Structurally corrosive for pluralist democracy

Research questions

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?

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?

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?

Work packages

WP1 2026–2027

Theory

Develops negational group identities (NGIs) as a distinct theoretical construct: how identities anchored in rejection differ, psychologically and structurally, from those anchored in belonging.

WP2 2026–2027

Antecedents

Studies the socio-psychological origins of NGIs through the lab experiment and the first national survey: their distribution in the population, their personality and emotional antecedents, and how emotions activate them.

WP3 2027–2028

Consequences

Tests how NGIs affect cohesion between citizens and trust in institutions, combining lab and survey evidence, and compares the corrosive effects across NGI types.

Methods

Digital lab experiments — N≈1,200 via a modified minimal-group paradigm in oTree; three conditions (affirmative-only, negational-only, combined), recruited through a social-media screener.
Two national surveys — N≈4,000 each (Bilendi/YouGov panels) with embedded survey experiments; survey 1 on antecedents, survey 2 on consequences.
Measures — Big Five and dark-tetrad personality, PANAS-X emotions, four NGI-domain batteries, and cohesion outcomes (trust/dictator games, institutional trust, democratic norms).

Timeline

Q2–Q3 2026	Social-media recruitment, lab pretests, theory development (WP1)
Q3–Q4 2026	Lab experiments (WP2 + WP3)
Q4 2026 – Q2 2027	WP1 framework paper, WP2 lab analysis
Q3–Q4 2027	National surveys, WP2 + WP3 survey analysis
Q4 2027 – Q1 2028	Empirical papers, open data release