Security, Stories and the Other: The Narrative Neurobiology of Identity Formation

Abstract

Narratives play a critical role in multiple national security issues, including influencing the genesis and development of political violence. Cognitive neuroscience has reached the stage where the neural mechanisms responsible for the impact of stories on the neurobiology and psychology of group identity can be explored systematically. A review of existing and pilot work in this area indicates narrative frames can have dramatic neurobiological impact on the machinery of empathy and in-group/out-group formation. Here, I discuss and review this literature and its strategic upshot for national security policy.