Immigration, diversity and the relevance of ascriptive characteristics in defining national identity across 21 countries and 28 West-German districts

Canan, Coşkun; Simon, Mara

doi:10.1093/migration/mny005

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Based on these considerations, we take leave from the bipolar scale which makes a theoretically imposed distinction between ethnic and civic national identity and aim to study national identity in terms of different patterns of inclusion and exclusion. We conceptualise these aspects of national identity in the same way as Canan and Simon ( 2019 ) and Wright ( 2011 ) who refer to aspects of national identity as ascriptive and achievable. Ascriptive refers to those elements of national identity that one can never acquire or that are inherited, reflecting what literature has mostly referred to as ethno-national elements, while achievable refers to those elements of national identity that one can choose to take up, referred to more commonly as civic identity.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dutch national identity in a majority-minority context: when the dominant group becomes a local minority

Lazëri

Coenders

2022

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

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With increasing ethnic diversity in Western European cities, more and more inhabitants without a migration background find themselves a local minority in majority-minority neighbourhoods, where less than half of the inhabitants have no migration background. We investigate whether this affects how they define national identity. We compare Dutch inhabitants without a migration background in majority-minority neighbourhoods in Amsterdam and Rotterdam to a representative sample of the overall Dutch population without a migration background and investigate how people describe what they see as truly Dutch. We find that national identity content is seen in the same way by both groups. The majority views Dutch identity as mostly achievable but does attach some importance to ascriptive characteristics. A smaller class of people is more restrictive and attaches quite some importance to both ascriptive and achievable characteristics. The smallest class considers Dutch identity achievable and not ascriptive at all. All three national identity content classes involve drawing boundaries around the nation-state, but with different degrees of permeability. Our finding that these patterns are almost identical, both in majority-minority neighbourhoods as in the overall population, suggests an important role of national public discourse on national identity formation.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dutch national identity in a majority-minority context: when the dominant group becomes a local minority

Lazëri

Coenders

2022

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

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“…The second variable in this context is the net migration rate for each country. Given that immigration and ethnic diversity are frequently linked to the different dimensions of social trust (Canan & Simon, 2018; Dinesen et al, 2020; Gundelach & Manatschal, 2017), it appears likely that this variable might shape the main relationships of interest as well. While all three models portrayed in Figure 3 show a significant direct association between immigration and social trust, there is little indication of a moderation effect by the former on the relationship between conceptions of nationhood and trust (Table S11).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dimensions of social trust and national identity: Addressing a multifaceted relationship

Wamsler

2023

Nations and Nationalism

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Social trust is crucial for the functioning of societies and states as well as for the wellbeing of individuals. In this article, I expand on previous literature and scrutinise the role of definitions of group membership in the form of national belonging as a key predictor of three distinct dimensions of social trust: particularised trust, trust in strangers and identity‐based trust. Drawing on recent data from the European Values Study, I find that stronger ethnic conceptions of nationhood are related to higher identity‐based trust, whereas the reverse holds for trust in strangers. The latter relationship, however, must be qualified regarding majority conceptions at the respective national level. Results for particularised trust, however, point towards a more complex relationship than outlined in the theoretical expectations. Thus, this article contributes to extant literature by presenting a comprehensive argument linking all three dimensions to conceptions of nationhood challenging simplified notions of generalised trust. Further, I go beyond extant studies by combining conceptions of nationhood at the individual level with several country‐level variables to demonstrate the robustness of the results.

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“…As controls, we consider a range of sociodemographic and political covariates that have been shown to affect normative conceptions of nationhood in previous research such as gender, age, residential area, education, income situation, and political ideology (Canan & Simon, 2019; Erhardt et al, 2021; Hadler & Flesken, 2018; Jones & Smith, 2001; Kunovich, 2009). 8 Summary statistics for all variables and question wording for key variables are provided in Supporting Information S2 and S3.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When it comes to the correlates of national identity content, we find evidence on the individual and contextual level. (Economic) development, globalisation, ethnic diversity, national policies, or elite rhetoric have all been discussed as macrovariables affecting conceptions of nationhood (Ariely, 2012; Canan & Simon, 2019; Hadler & Flesken, 2018; Helbling et al, 2016; Jones & Smith, 2001; Kunovich, 2009; Shulman, 2002a). Regarding individual‐level forces, studies mainly point to the relevance of socioeconomic status (income and education), religious identity, and citizenship or minority (migrant) status (Jones & Smith, 2001; Kunovich, 2006, 2009).…”

Section: Personality and National Identity Content: The Relationship ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality and national identity: How the Big Five relate to civic and ethnic conceptions of nationhood

Hofstetter

2022

Nations and Nationalism

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In recent years, the concept of national identity has recaptured the imagination of public opinion research and with it individuals' conceptions of what it takes to be a “true” member of their nation. This investigation aims to add to the explanation of varying conceptions of nationhood by scrutinising their personality‐based foundations. It provides the first systematic analysis of a yet unstudied link between the Big Five personality traits and two ideal‐typical conceptions of nationhood: civic and ethnic national identity. Using 18 samples from six European countries (Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and the United Kingdom), each containing around 1000 individuals, we uncover psychological underpinnings of attitudes towards national membership, revealing several consistent trait patterns. We find a negative relationship between openness to experience and an ethnic national identity, while conscientiousness associates positively with the civic ideal type of national identity content. The findings presented extend current understandings of how people conceptualise national belonging and provide evidence that distinct conceptions of nationhood are related to different dispositional foundations.

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Immigration, diversity and the relevance of ascriptive characteristics in defining national identity across 21 countries and 28 West-German districts

Cited by 7 publications

References 39 publications

Dutch national identity in a majority-minority context: when the dominant group becomes a local minority

Dutch national identity in a majority-minority context: when the dominant group becomes a local minority

Dimensions of social trust and national identity: Addressing a multifaceted relationship

Personality and national identity: How the Big Five relate to civic and ethnic conceptions of nationhood

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