tribalist
Us-versus-them thinker
A tribalist prioritizes loyalty to their own group—ethnic, political, cultural, or social—often to the exclusion or detriment of outsiders.
The term usually carries negative connotations, suggesting someone whose group allegiance overrides fairness or reason: The tribalists on both sides made compromise impossible.
Tribalist also functions as an adjective: tribalist politics, tribalist thinking.
Loyalty owed to authority
- solidarityUnity among allies
- fidelityLoyalty or exactness
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- fealtyPledged devotion to authority
bond · cohesion · brotherhood · sisterhood · camaraderie · commitment · unity · fraternity
Division into opposing cliques
- polarizationSeparation into opposing extremes
- sectarianismPrejudiced loyalty to subgroups
- exclusionaryTending to bar others
- in-groupExclusive social cluster
out-group · schism · discord · alienation · animosity · antagonism · enmity · hostility
Belief one's culture superior
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
- xenophobiaHatred of outsiders
- chauvinismMilitant devotion to group
- jingoismBellicose extreme patriotism
nativism · fundamentalism · extremism · dogmatism · radicalism · collectivism · protectionism · isolationism
allegiance
Loyalty owed to authority
- solidarityUnity among allies
- fidelityLoyalty or exactness
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
fealty · bond · cohesion · brotherhood · sisterhood · camaraderie · commitment · unity · fraternity · in-group
factionalism
Division into opposing cliques
- polarizationSeparation into opposing extremes
- sectarianismPrejudiced loyalty to subgroups
- exclusionaryTending to bar others
in-group · out-group · schism · discord · alienation · animosity · antagonism · enmity · hostility · othering
ethnocentrism
Belief one's culture superior
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
- xenophobiaHatred of outsiders
- chauvinismMilitant devotion to group
jingoism · nativism · fundamentalism · extremism · dogmatism · radicalism · collectivism · protectionism · isolationism · populism
ethnicity
Shared cultural heritage group
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
- traditionsLong-established customs passed down
roots · homeland · folkways · ancestry · totem · cultural · affiliation · belonging · ethnic · communal
clan
Related group sharing ancestry
heritage · family · relatives · kinfolk · descent · genealogy · forebears · descendants · consanguinity · dynasty
tribalistindividualist
One who values autonomy
universalist · cosmopolitan · humanist · independent · nonconformist
tribalistfreethinker
Rejects doctrine for reason
rationalist · objectivist · empiricist · skeptic · independent thinker
tribalistuniversalist
Believer in absolute principles
humanitarian · cosmopolitan · egalitarian · altruist · humanist
- political tribalismGroup identity overriding reason