Belonging’s hard work after fitting

Joining a group answers the initial hunger for connection, but the sustained work of belonging — policing boundaries, reconciling personal autonomy with group norms, and managing status obligations — is the harder, ongoing task. That maintenance phase is where imitation, moral signaling, and internalized 'pseudo‑selves' form, which can drive conformity, burnout, or radicalization over time. — Shifting the focus from recruitment to maintenance reframes debates on polarization, deradicalization, workplace culture, and policy interventions aimed at social cohesion.