In preparation for committed collective action, an important
part of the "pep talk" is the bonding. Unity involves gathering the group together, keeping it together, usually under a symbolic leader. Loyalty involves behaviors about the shared rules and goals, acceptance of the primacy of the group (and its leader) over the interest of individuals. Pride involves positive attitudes (including dominance, esteem, and a sense of being right) related to the group, and thus, by association, to the individuals who identify themselves with the group. Bonding activities, relating to both the present and the past, involves many kinds of organized group activities (teams, parades, picketing, wearing uniforms), but music has a special importance. Propaganda movies (and other narratives -- see "Horror Stories" in the Threat) often emphasize bonding scenes, camaraderie. Such activities are important not only for gathering the group together, but also for keeping it together, ready for action. Once a group is bonded, a structure and organization comes into being. Individuals often gain self-esteem from joining such groups. People, especially leaders, have roles to play and jobs to protect. So, bonded groups need a sense of movement and progress, often obtained by introducing new threats and new causes. Konrad Lorenz, On Aggression (1966), on the need to recognize the pattern of "militant enthusiasm": "The first prerequisite for rational control of an instinctive behavior pattern is the knowledge of the stimulus situation which releases it. Militant enthusiasm can be elicited with the predictability of a reflex when the following environmental situations arise. First of all, a social unit with which the subject identifies himself must appear to be threatened by some danger from the outside.... A second key stimulus which contributes enormously to the releasing of intense militant enthusiasm is the presence of a hated enemy from whom the threat to the above "values" emanates.... A third factor contributing to the environmental situation eliciting the response is an inspiring leader figure.... A fourth, and perhaps the most important, prerequisite for the full eliciting of militant enthusiasm is the presence of many other individuals, all agitated by the same emotion...."
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