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| Many seek freedom in solitude, but new research suggests feelings of control come from social belonging. |
Why it's a mistake to seek control of your life through solitude
Many seek freedom in solitude, but new research suggests feelings of control come from social belonging.
許多人從孤獨中尋找自由，但新的研究表明，感情控制來自社會歸屬感。
The true story of Christopher McCandless, dramatised in the 2007 film Into the Wild, is a search for radical independence that culminates in McCandless’ solitary existence in the wilds of Alaska. It speaks to a powerful belief: to feel you control your life, stand alone. But new research suggests otherwise: to feel control, stand together.
克里斯托弗·麥坎德利斯的真實故事，在2007年改編成電影 " 阿拉斯加之死 "，麥坎德利斯尋求徹底的獨立性，在阿拉斯加的荒野，“孤獨的存在使其尋到獨自的巔峰。它講述一個強大的信念：讓感覺控制你的生活，自我獨立吧。但是，新的研究表明另有他方：要有控制感，則是一起努力吧。
If committing to a group feels like surrendering control, reasoned Katharine Greenaway and her collaborators, we might expect some impact on wellbeing, as humans and animals alike thrive from autonomy and are distressed when they lose it. But group membership is robustly associated with life satisfaction, and while other researchers have sought to explain this as owing to social support or boosts to self-esteem, Greenaway’s team suspected that identifying with a group actually makes people feel more in control. After all, personal control means more than not being interfered with, it includes the capacity to do what matters. Greenaway’s team predicted that merely identifying as part of a group may make people feel more capable.
如果對團體承諾感覺像對控制投降， Katharine Greenaway 和她的合作者合於邏輯，我們可以
預期在健康上產生一定的影響，因為人類和動物茁壯成長都來自自主性，當他們失去它時都感到痛苦。但組合成員情感與生活滿意度緊密連結有關，而其他研究人員試圖解釋這是由於社會支持或提升自尊，格林納威的團隊則懷疑與組織一起時實際上使人們更易感到掌控度。畢竟，個人控制不僅僅意味著不被干擾，它包括做什麼事情的能力。格林納威的研究小組預測，僅僅識別作為集團的一部分，可以讓人感覺更加幹練。
To test this, they collected data shortly after the 2012 US election, asking 129 American adults who they voted for, how strongly they identified with that candidate’s party and how much control they felt they had over their own lives. After Obama’s victory, Obama voters who had a stronger bond with his Democratic party felt more in control of their lives. Little surprise perhaps: their man had won. But voters with a strong Republican identity also experienced a post-election increase in their sense of personal control. Although the Republicans had a case to feel disempowered, simply being in bed with something bigger made them feel more capable than voters with a weaker collective identity.
為了驗證這一點，他們在2012年美國大選不久後收集數據，詢問129名美國成年人，他們投給誰，他們與該候選人所屬黨派識別度有多強烈以及他們覺得控制自己的生活多少。之後，奧巴馬的勝利，選了奧巴馬的選民與民主黨的緊密結合比控制自己的生活更強。小驚喜也許是：他們的人贏了。但選民們具有強烈的共和黨身份選舉後也經歷了自己個人的控制感增加。儘管共和黨人感到權利被剝奪，讓他們覺得僅只是與更大的東西共處的情況下也比選民用較弱的集體認同能力更強。Another much larger study looked at how 62,000 people across 47 countries identified with their local community, national group, or as part of the human race. Whichever level the researchers looked at, feeling part of a group was associated with feeling more personal control, and this effect was associated with higher levels of wellbeing.
另一項更大的研究著眼於如何在跨越47個國家的6.2萬人確定了當地社區，民族，或作為人類的一部分。無論哪個級別的研究人員關注，感覺融入團體的一部分更讓人覺得有個人控制感，並且這種作用與更高水平的福祉有關。
Finally, an experiment involving 300 American adults showed that momentary manipulations of how we feel towards a larger group influences feelings of personal control and wellbeing. Half the participants were led to connect with their national identity by asking them to assess statements about America that were either positive and reasonable (therefore easy to endorse) or negative and unreasonable. These participants went on to report significantly greater feelings of personal control and greater life satisfaction in that moment. They also reported lower depression in the past week suggesting either that the effect can time-travel, or that their view of the past was coloured by a rush of national pride.
最後，涉及300名美國成年人的實驗表明，瞬間操作如何朝向更大的群體感影響個人控制和幸福的感覺。一半的參與者分別被要求他們與本國的身份進行連接評估美國要么是積極的，合理的（因此很容易認可）或負面與不合理的語句。這些參與者接著報告個人的控制感，在那一刻有更大的生活滿意度更大的顯著感受。他們也說明過去一周的抑鬱症藉著一個匆促的民族自豪感減低而不是經由結果能時間回溯，或是過去的看法帶有偏見。
The notion of individualism is actually a fairly recent development for humanity, an exquisitely social species that owes its success to our capacity to collaborate and coordinate actions (this may even be the reason we developed conscious awareness). This new research suggests our group identities are a continued source of our sense of agency and control. A life alone on the Alaskan tundra may offer many things, but we can find our own forms of freedom right here among the people we know.
個人主義的概念實際上是人類一個相當新的發展，這精緻的社會物種成功的擁有對我們的能力，協作和協調的行動（這甚至可能是我們開發自覺意識的原因）。這項新的研究表明，我們集團身份是我們的機構和控制感的持續來源。獨自生活在阿拉斯加苔原可能可以提供很多東西，但我們可以在我們認識的人裡找到自己自由權利的方式。
Greenaway, K., Haslam, S., Cruwys, T., Branscombe, N., Ysseldyk, R., & Heldreth, C. (2015). From “We” to “Me”: Group Identification Enhances Perceived Personal Control With Consequences for Health and Well-Being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology DOI:10.1037/pspi0000019
Post written by Alex Fradera (@alexfradera) for the BPS Research Digest.
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