How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 359

Often individuals increase their feelings of acceptance by building their
association with certain people, places, or things. This has been referred to
as the Social Identity Theory.[13] For example, a sports fan may increase
his self-esteem by plastering his walls with his favorite team's sports
paraphernalia. Even though no one on that team has any clue who this Joe
Schmo is, he feels better about himself anyway, just because of the
association and identity he has created for himself with the team.
Thinking back, why was it such a life-or-death situation to belong to
social groups in high school? A sense of belonging is even more
important to us as adults. Whom you know and what you have are in
direct correlation to your self-esteem and acceptance.
[13]M. Tesser, Advanced Social Psychology (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995).

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