Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion · chapter 8 · id influence-c8-01-unity----the-sense-of-shared-i
“Unity -- the sense of shared identity ('we-ness') -- is a distinct and powerful influence principle separate from liking. People are more compliant with requests from those they perceive as part of their in-group.”
TRUE, BUTconfidence: medium⚠ extracted by pipeline, re-audit pending
Receipts
Tajfel & Turner (1979/2004), Social Identity Theory, in Worchel & Austin (Eds.), Psychology of Intergroup RelationsFLAGGED: DOI not in registry
People derive part of their self-concept from group memberships and show systematic in-group favoritism. The minimal group paradigm showed that even arbitrary categorization produces in-group bias.
Balliet, Wu & De Dreu (2014), Ingroup Favoritism in Cooperation Meta-Analysis, Psychological Bulletin 140(6)DOI registry: valid
Meta-analysis of 212 effect sizes found significant in-group favoritism in cooperation (d=0.32). The effect was robust across cultures and experimental paradigms.
W.P. Carey School (2025), Cialdini on Unity Principlesource alive
Cialdini: 'I had always seen unity as an accelerator of other principles.' The family framing in his student survey study increased parent response rate from below 20% to 97%.
This claim is a stable, citable object. If you can falsify a verdict, tell us. Corrections are loud here.