The Power of Belonging — How Tribal Psychology Shapes Modern Politics
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #327
In the age of social media — and hyper-connectedness — we like to think of ourselves as independent thinkers: rational, informed, and immune to manipulation.
But beneath the surface is something older than Twitter….older than democracy itself — an ancient psychological framework that drives our need to belong, to be accepted, and to find safety in numbers.
This instinct — once essential for survival — now plays a central role in how we form opinions, especially on contentious issues like elections.
Foreign adversaries — and domestic political factions — know this.
And they’re using it against us.
I. Social Approval Isn’t Superficial — It’s Neurological
Our brains are wired to crave approval. A 2016 study from Psychological Science found that receiving social media “likes” activates the brain’s reward centers — the same ones linked to pleasure from food, sex, or money.
“This reward circuitry is the same that responds to food, sex, and money — suggesting social media taps into deeply rooted neural pathways.” — Sherman et al., 2016
Social validation doesn’t just feel good — it is good to the brain. This makes us vulnerable to feedback loops where emotional comfort outweighs logical assessment.
II. Our Tribal Brain — Why Group Loyalty Overrides Facts
Early humans who were ostracized risked death. (That made for a bad day.) So we evolved to stay in the good graces of the tribe. That survival instinct still shapes us today.
When group identity gets tied to beliefs — political, religious, or cultural — defending those beliefs becomes a way to defend our social standing.
“Reason is the servant of the intuitions — not their master. We use reasoning to justify our beliefs — not to discover them.” — Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind
When politics becomes identity, facts become irrelevant.
III. How Foreign Actors Exploit This Instinct
Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election didn’t focus on changing votes — it focused on changing minds.
According to a 2019 Senate Intelligence report:
“The goal was to deepen existing divisions — to make the loud louder and the angry angrier.”
Fake social media accounts were used to amplify tribal narratives — reinforcing what groups already believed.
Once the message gained traction inside the group, it needed no further intervention. Likes, shares, and comments did the rest.
This wasn’t propaganda — it was social manipulation.
IV. The Domestic Weaponization of Tribal Psychology
The 2020 election brought this tactic home. The Republican Party, led by key figures, embraced a narrative that the election was stolen.
Despite zero proof — and over 60 court decisions confirming its legitimacy — the lie stuck.
Why? Because belief became a badge of loyalty.
According to a Quinnipiac poll in January 2021, 75% of Republicans believed the election was fraudulent.
Those who disagreed — even inside the party — were punished. On social media, the falsehood was amplified by emotional validation. The more divisive the message, the more “support” it seemed to receive.
As political scientist Lilliana Mason puts it:
“When partisan identity becomes a social identity, disagreement becomes threat — and politics becomes war.” — Uncivil Agreement
V. The Psychological Cost of Loyalty at All Costs
Tribal loyalty isn’t harmless. It isolates us from conflicting information. It punishes dissent. It creates echo chambers that feed extremism.
Cognitive dissonance — the psychological discomfort of being wrong — becomes unbearable. So many choose comfort over truth.
The result? Polarization. Loneliness. And sometimes, violence.
We saw this on January 6th, 2021.
People stormed the Capitol not because of facts, but because their identity was tied to a story they couldn’t emotionally afford to question.
VI. What Can Be Done?
Tribal instincts aren’t going away — but we can recognize when they’re being exploited.
We need:
*Digital literacy in schools and public discourse
*Algorithmic transparency from social platforms
*Moral courage from political leaders
*A personal commitment to question why we believe what we believe
“Are we defending our ideas — or just defending our place in the tribe?”
The future of democracy may depend on how we answer that.
Closing Thoughts
The instinct to belong is human. But when belonging comes at the cost of truth — of shared reality — we all lose.
If you found this worth reading, consider sharing it.
Let’s build a tribe that values facts, not just affirmation.
I’ll be back soon. In the meantime, let your mind work this one around, so you can add this knowledge and perspective how you approach, and look at…the world around you.
Best,
Jack
Facts and Justice are our Unity...we are on the side of Right..⚖️🇺🇸⚖️
We are so tied in to the stories we tell for identity, righteousness, and what we think is the truth. The more we tell our story, the more cemented it gets into our foundation of thought, so I'm with you on your article.
The lady who cleans my house is a true Q-Anon tribal member, and she comes every couple of months. I consider it my conspiracy theory update day, so I suit up in my best tinfoil hat and welcome her in. Some people ask why I keep her, but I find her beliefs absolutely fascinating in a car wreck kind of way.
She was recently diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. After "doing her own research", she is cemented in the belief that liver flukes caused it. I'd never heard of liver flukes, so I asked her lots of questions. For anyone else who doesn't know, liver flukes are a parasite infecting the liver and bile ducts.
She is now on a 90 day parasite cleanse, other various supplements, has taken at least one dose of Ivermectin, and eats organic. Her doctor offered to test her for liver flukes, but she said it won't show up in the results even though she saw one that exited her body. She will stick with this cleanse until her diabetes is cured. The best claim she made is that when she gets a headache, it's because all the parasites in her body are in her head peeing at the same time. I would have thought I was being punk'd, but I heard the seriousness and conviction with which she said it. She is a true believer and unwilling to give up this story because otherwise it's her gawd punishing her for her life when she was a drunk.
She told one of her type 1 diabetic clients all of this, and he laughed. She said lots of people are laughing at her over this. I didn't and she was willing to share. I was interested to hear how solid she was with her belief in the story. She is all in.
It's these kinds of stories that remind me to question my own beliefs. How tied am I to what I believe?
My skill in life has been as a story disruptor. I can hear the questions people won't ask themselves by the words they speak, so I ask them in a nonjudgmental and direct manner. There is nothing like a well-timed, good question to get someone to think. Their answer to themselves, said out loud to me, allows them to keep their story or offers up the opportunity to change it in a big or small way. Watching someone have a light bulb moment of self discovery is like shooting heroin directly into my veins, or at least as I imagine it, cuz it's the dragon I chase. I love watching people question the story they've been telling for any length of time.
If there is any question about being tied to a story, just ask multiple people about the same event. Especially ask a married couple and watch the fight that ensues for who is right.