Global Citizen 2.0: Transhumanism and Collective Identity

Abstract

As the world becomes ever-expanding through internationalization and digitization of human connection, the ideologies of global citizenship and transhumanism have become prescient political projects in the United States. Global citizenship promotes an expanded sense of self which embraces peoples and cultures from around the world and is predicted by a normative environment and global awareness (Reysen & Katzarska-Miller, 2013a). Global citizenship identification robustly predicts prosocial values related to intergroup helping and empathy, environmentalism, and social justice. Transhumanism, advocates for the use of technological advancements to improve well-being and reduce suffering in humanity (Bostrom, 2005). Transhumanists tend to promote interconnectedness of humanity and think of technological intervention as a means to manage the evolutionary trajectory of the species. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between global citizenship identification and transhumanist orientation via a survey of college students (N = 1,069). Results indicated that transhumanist orientation is a reliable, positive predictor of global citizenship identification, antecedents of identification, as well as prosocial outcomes. The findings inform the way we conceptualize identity in an increasingly globalized world facilitated by technological advancement.