Group Identity is More Important than Individual Identity

I wonder if this is always the case. It certainly seems to be the case for most people I know.

Instead of asking themselves "Will this be good for me?" They ask themselves "What group do I belong to, and what do they want me to do?"

One practical example of this, is the exodus of Gringos from Orosi, my home town in a beautiful valley, in Costa Rica. I knew a Canadian couple who were renting here - but they left. The husband explained to me, that his wife had to live on the coast - where it is hot, compared to the mild climate of Orisi. He had no choice, but live there with her.

I knew another woman, quite well, who developed this strange need to live on the coast - even though it was more expensive there. If she could not live there, she developed some strange symptoms, that alarmed her family.