In particular, it seems to me that the closer to the core people are, the less inclined they are to identify themselves with EA. What’s going on here? I don’t know, but it’s an interesting trailhead to me.
I think this implies that there is a substantive non-quirky effect. That said, I imagine some of this may be explained by new EAs simply being particularly enthusiastic in ways which explain stronger identification with EA and higher satisfaction.[1]
One dynamic which I expect explains this is the narcissism of small differences, as people become closer to EA, differences and disagreements become more salient, and so people may become more inclined to want to distance themselves from EA as a whole.
I share this impression. Also, we see that satisfaction is lower among people who have been in EA longer compared to newer EAs (though this is not true for self-reported engagement), which seems potentially related. Note that we would expect to see pressure in the opposite direction due to less satisfied people dropping out over time.
I think this implies that there is a substantive non-quirky effect. That said, I imagine some of this may be explained by new EAs simply being particularly enthusiastic in ways which explain stronger identification with EA and higher satisfaction.[1]
One dynamic which I expect explains this is the narcissism of small differences, as people become closer to EA, differences and disagreements become more salient, and so people may become more inclined to want to distance themselves from EA as a whole.
I’m not suggesting any particular causal theory about the relationship between satisfaction and identification.