Groupism is a theoretical approach in sociology that posits that conformity to the laws/norms of a group such as family, kinship, race, ethnicity, religion and nationality brings reciprocal benefits such as recognition, right, power and security.
[1] The concept of groupism can be defined and criticized in varied ways for disciplines such as sociology, social psychology, anthropology, political history and philosophy.
According to Brubaker, it is the view that division among humans such as ethnicity is an absolute, unchanging entity rather than a changing conceptual variable subject to time and context.
[4] Brubaker suggests that instead of taking "groups" as substantial entities, social and political analysis of the "groupness" should be brought about in terms of political, social, cultural and psychological processes listed below[4] According to Norwegian anthropologist Fredric Barth, ethnicity, race and nationality categories are a matter of factors such as self identification/external categorisation, at individual/institutional level or formal/ informal context.
[6] It has been estimated that there are over 300 million indigenous people around the world some among which includes the Red Indians, Sami in Northern Europe, the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders of Australia and the Maori of New Zealand, Ainu people of Japan, Bantu in Somalia, Assyrians of the Middle east, the Kazakhs, Mongols, Tajik, Tibetans, Ugyur, and Eurasian Nomads of Kazakhstan, eastern Russia.
[8] Groupism is viewed as deeply rooted part of the Japanese group oriented society known for their high productivity, cooperative attitude and surpassing international competitive strength.
[13] The ryūha-iemoto system refers to social organisation in Japanese traditional music making which is shown to be dominated by the hierarchical form of groupism.
This involves an authoritative group called "Miyagi- ha" at the top of hierarchy who gets the greatest benefits of musical freedom, recognition, power and money.
It also involves the power of normative influence from one's heritage, culture and tradition to which people comply with its social norms to gain recognition or to avoid other's disapproval.
[16] In summary, social constructs formed by prejudice, discrimination, racism and nationalism can be ascribed to groupism which an individual can obtain throughout life based on their socio-cultural and historical context that leads to psychological development as a child.
Social facilitation which is a phenomenon proposed by Robert Zajonc is another example of the positive aspects of groupism where the presence and influence of diverse groups enhances the performance of a task.
Scientific evidence from early hominids in Africa that shows humans have evolved as small social groups that are predisposed to include or exclude others in an instinctual manner.