The present study aims to rationalize the question of ''why some people perform extreme self-sacrificing behaviors as sacrificing own life on the behalf of in-group members'' and explore the relations of people with local in-group (Republican People's Party supporters), extended in-group (the Republic of Turkey citizens) and local out-groups (Justice and Development Party, Peoples' Democratic Party, and Nationalist Movement Party supporters) in individual and group levels using theories of social identity, identity fusion, and relative deprivation. A total of 320 people, 219 women and 101 men, who defined themselves as supporters of the Republican People's Party with a mean age of 24.72 (SD = 4.86) participated in the research. Participants responded to 6 vignettes reflecting different inter-group situations and measures of group identification, identity fusion, individual-based / group-based relative deprivation, and relative deprivation fusion. Findings supported the significant systematic associations between study variables. Identity fusion and relative deprivation fusion variables positively predicted the tendency to perform extreme self-sacrificing behaviors on the behalf of local in-group and extended in-group. In-group identification and individual-based / group/based deprivation variables could not explain extreme self-sacrificing behaviors. It is important that research findings present a theoretical framework to explain extreme self-sacrificing pro-group behaviors and indicate individual and group levels are mutually supportive processes.
Key words: extreme self-sacrificing pro-group behaviors, group identification, identity fusion, relative deprivation, main opposition party
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