While the binding force of a common position certainly facilitates the formation of the in-group, charismatic individuals must also play a role. These individuals are needed in order to bind the group in some kind of official manner, in addition to defining what, exactly, the group stands for. Certainly, differences exist among the importance of charismatic individuals in the in-group. Just as certainly, these differences influence the way they see the out-group. If a group has a particularly charismatic individual as a leader, and that leader feels strong anger toward the opposite group, than it is plausible that the group will feel anger toward that other group in order to attempt to assimilate into the in-group, in addition to an attempt to reach a high rank within the group. Further, the psychological tendencies of the members of the group should have an impact upon how the in-group sees the out-group and upon what kind of actions and action-tendencies that the group intends on using regarding its opposing group. In the blend of psychological make-ups included in the groups, it is possible...

The individuals within the group have the power to shape it in a variety of means through convincing, threatening, and offering group members a sense of security within a common gathering.
Thus, the ideas of group think and the relationship between in-groups and out-groups are significant issues that must be studied in order to understand human behavior and better society. But groups are only groups when they are made up of individuals. By refraining from discussing the contribution of individual psychology to in-groups and out-groups, the authors of the article, "Intergroup Emotions: Explaining Offensive Action Tendencies in an Intergroup Context," the authors have excluded a significant component of their study, a component that can shed further light on this issue.

References

Mackie, D.M., Devos, T., and Smith, E.R. (2000). Intergroup Emotions: Explaining

Offensive Action Tendencies in an Intergroup Context. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(4),…