Identity fusion – a powerful form of group alignment – is a strong predictor of using violence to defend the ingroup. However, recent theorizing suggests, in the absence of outgroup threat, fusion may instead promote intergroup trust and cooperation. Across five studies we find evidence that fusion to a range of groups (e.g., country, football team) was consistently positively associated with a willingness to trust others generally, trust outgroup members, and social exploration. An internal meta-analysis indicated that fusion was more strongly associated with trust and social exploration, compared to several measures of group identification. These findings provide support for the fusion-secure base hypothesis (Personality and Social Psychology Review. 2023, 27(2), 107–127) and suggest that fusion has the potential to increase a willingness to interact with, and trust, outgroup members.

中文翻译：

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身份融合与外群体信任和社会探索相关：融合安全基础假设的证据

身份融合——一种强有力的群体结盟形式——是使用暴力捍卫内部群体的有力预测因素。然而，最近的理论表明，在没有外群体威胁的情况下，融合可能反而会促进群体间的信任与合作。在五项研究中，我们发现证据表明，与一系列群体（例如国家、足球队）的融合始终与信任他人、信任外群体成员和社会探索的意愿呈正相关。一项内部荟萃分析表明，与群体认同的几种衡量标准相比，融合与信任和社会探索的相关性更强。这些发现为融合安全基本假设提供了支持（《人格与社会心理学评论》。2023, 27 (2), 107-127），并表明融合有可能增加与外群体成员互动和信任的意愿。