Are we Lab Rats?

In the Sept. 2019 issue of Scientific American is an article “Radical Change - Uncertainty in the world threatens our sense of self to cope, people embrace populism.” [scientificamerican.com] "The Search for Social Identity Leads to "Us" versus "Them"

Unfortunately I cannot get the link (without a subscription) but some highlights are ”One powerful source of identity resides in social groups.” “… research shows…that social categorization is ubiquitous. A person categorizes others as either ‘in-group of ‘out-group.” “And because we also categorize ourselves, we internalize shared in-group-defining attributes as part of who we are. To build social identity, we psychologically surround ourselves with those who are like us.” “Human achievements that require the coordination of many in the service of common goals cannot be achieved by people on their own.” “Most important, groups need to be polarized from other groups and have unambiguous boundaries that distinguish between those who are ‘in’ and those who are ‘out.’ Internally they need to be clearly structured typically in a hierarchical way. These features make the group cohesive and homogenous, such that members are interdependent and of one mind in sharing a common fate. Diversity and dissent reinstate uncertainty and are therefore avoided.” I especially find the idea of diversity being a part of the problem reassuring.
The article is not too long but it covers experiments done and ongoing for this field of study. Not that I mind but I got to wondering if our group could possibly be part of an experiment? Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch.