Sustained Dialogue Institute Releases New Campus Guide on In-Group Authenticity Gatekeeping

The Sustained Dialogue Institute has released a new open-access campus guide that helps communities address “authenticity gatekeeping” — the pressure individuals feel to prove their belonging within identity-based groups. The resource explores how rigid standards of authenticity can create both connection and harm, drawing on social identity theory to explain why groups enforce boundaries and how these behaviors can silence diversity or reinforce hierarchies. It offers facilitators practical tools, including dialogue prompts and scenario-based exercises, to help participants reflect on their experiences of inclusion and exclusion. By encouraging empathy, critical thinking, and honest discussion about identity and belonging, the guide supports the creation of more inclusive campus environments where complexity and difference are embraced. Read more in the blog post below.

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The Sustained Dialogue Institute has released a timely new facilitation resource designed to help campus communities navigate one of the most challenging dynamics in group identity: authenticity gatekeeping. This open-access guide addresses the complex tensions that arise when group members feel pressure to prove they belong or when they judge others as not being authentic enough to claim a shared identity.

Exploring Identity, Belonging, and Boundaries

The guide tackles a phenomenon familiar to many: the anxiety and exclusion that can emerge when groups impose rigid standards about who truly belongs. Whether in affinity spaces, faith communities, cultural organizations, or social movements, the pressure to perform identity in prescribed ways can create both harm and belonging. The resource explores why groups establish and enforce authenticity norms, examining how uncertainty, threat, and the desire for clarity can drive communities toward conformity and gatekeeping behaviors.
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Drawing on social identity theory and research into group dynamics, the guide helps facilitators create space for honest reflection about these tensions. It acknowledges that while shared norms can foster connection and protect vulnerable communities, overly rigid boundaries can silence diverse perspectives, reinforce hierarchies within groups, and leave members feeling they must hide parts of themselves to belong. The resource encourages participants to consider their own experiences across multiple intersecting identities and to recognize how power, marginalization, and context shape authenticity judgments.

Practical Tools for Meaningful Dialogue

What makes this guide particularly valuable is its practical approach to facilitating difficult conversations. It provides structured activities, including scenario-based exercises where participants explore authenticity gatekeeping from multiple perspectives—both as someone experiencing exclusion and as someone enforcing group boundaries. These exercises encourage empathy and critical thinking about how communities balance inclusion with identity preservation.

The guide offers facilitators concrete discussion questions tailored to campus contexts, preparation for common opinions that may surface, and guidance on navigating sensitive topics related to race, gender, sexuality, religion, language, and other identity dimensions. By helping students examine when conformity serves connection and when it becomes harmful, the resource supports the development of more inclusive, thoughtful communities capable of holding complexity and difference.

For practitioners working to strengthen dialogue and deliberation on campuses, this guide represents an important contribution to addressing real challenges students face in navigating belonging, identity, and authentic self-expression. The Sustained Dialogue Institute has made this resource freely available to support facilitators in creating brave spaces where these essential conversations can unfold.
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Access the guide and learn more at: https://sustaineddialogue.org/news_articles/access-new-guide-ingroup-authenticity-gatekeeping/