What makes us feel the pain of loss? Solidarity is a feeling that brings people together for hard times. What is the principle of mutual assistance based on and how does the so-called “social glue” work?
At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, the sociologist Emile Durkheim introduced the concept of “social glue” – the force that unites people. Art, religion, family can act as such glue. But one of the strongest incentives for mutual help is pain. Nothing contributes to mutual understanding more than this feeling, physical or moral, experienced together.
Australian scientist Brock Bastian of the University of New South Wales invited 54 students to participate in the research*, and some of them were put to the test. In the first task of the experiment, students immersed their hand in a container of water and moved metal balls in it. Some of the participants were lucky – they got water at room temperature. The rest had to perform the task in ice water, causing painful sensations in the subjects.
The second task was related to physical exercises. Students had to perform vertical wall squats (which tend to be painful) or balance on one leg with the ability to switch legs (which is not as painful as squats). After completing all the tasks, the students rated their feelings according to several criteria, for example: “I feel like a part of this group of participants”, “I feel a sense of loyalty to other participants”. After evaluating the results, it became clear that the students who were assigned painful tasks felt a greater sense of solidarity and desire to cooperate with their group colleagues than those who did not experience pain during the experiment**.
None of us, with the exception of special cases, likes to experience pain. We try to avoid this feeling as much as possible. But even pain has positive social consequences – sometimes it becomes an important impetus for bringing people together and solving problems together.
* Psychological Science, November 2014.
** Association for Psychological Science, September 2014.