Identification in work, war, sports, and religion: Contrasting the benefits and risks

Social identification appears to be a ubiquitous phenomenon. However, it is not clear why one would want to identify with a particular entity. We argue that the potential benefits of identification include enhanced self-esteem transcendence of self, meaning, belonging, and raised aspirations. We explore the nature of identification with several traditional foci, namely work organizations, war las an expression of patriotism), spectator sports, and religious values and groups. We discuss land contrast) the extent to which the benefits of identification can he attained in each domain and thr future of each domain as an identification object.