The Importance of Pre-Existing Identities in Group Emergence: The No al Club de Golf Social Movement in Tepoztlan, Mexico

Abstract

This dissertation questions the assumptions about how to define multiple identities (Identity Salience or Supra-Additive approaches) and about the role of these identities in micromobilization. Fieldwork investigating the No al Club de Golf social movement in Tepoztlán, Mexico, demonstrates that respondents made two separate decisions about the movement: one, a decision about which side (group) of the movement to join; and, two, a decision about participation in the movement.

Fundamentally, fieldwork highlights the important role pre-existing identities played in respondents’ decisions about which side of the movement to join. Computational models for the Identity Salience and Supra-Additive approaches to multiple identities are built to examine how these pre-existing identities influence group emergence given social pressure, ideologues (Buckle Factor), agent interaction, and different conceptions of identities.

Model outcomes show that the dynamics of individual level decisions are different between the Identity Salience and Supra-Additive models. However, aggregate outcomes are the same between the models when the populations have little variation in identity and social pressure tolerance strengths. Results also show that allegiance to historical identities, social pressure tolerance levels, and the presence of ideologues (Buckle Factor) does influence agents’ group choice differently between the two identity approaches.