The Relationship Between (sub)national Identity, Citizenship Conceptions, and Perceived Ethnic Threat in Flanders and Wallonia for the Period 1995–2020: A Measurement Invariance Testing Strategy

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between (sub)national identity and attitudes towards immigrants in the multinational context of Belgium. We extend our previous studies by analysing a longer time period (1995–2020) and by making a strong case for the idea that measurement invariance testing and theoretical meaningfulness are closely intertwined. To examine whether and how the relationship between (sub)national identity and perceived ethnic threat has changed over time and between regions, we first test for metric invariance of the latent concepts. Using data from the Belgian National Election Studies, we illustrate that evaluating invariance of measurements is a necessary condition for comparative research, but also that measurement equivalence testing should be considered as an empirical guide showing researchers where substantial conclusions should potentially be revisited and theoretical validity rethought. Next, we verify whether the relationship between (sub)national identity and perceptions of ethnic threat across subnational units can be attributed to different conceptions of community membership -in terms of ethnic and/or civic citizenship conceptions- in Flanders and Wallonia. While we expected that a strong identification with Flanders would primarily be related to an ethnic citizenship representation, and as a result, stronger feelings of threat towards immigrants; we expected that a strong identification with Wallonia would primarily be related to a civic representation of the nation and therefore lower feelings of threat. Thanks to our thorough invariance testing strategy, the conceptualisation and measurement of (sub)national identity had to be adjusted in Wallonia, and the hypotheses had to be qualified.

Can nationalism and group conflict explain cultural and economic threat perceptions? Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the ISSP (1995–2013)

“…Conversely, ethnic definitions of nationhood are conceptually closer to nationalism and its more affective identification with the in-group (Pehrson et al, 2009). Furthermore, experimental (Wakefield et al, 2011), cross-sectional (Billiet et al, 2021), and longitudinal (Pehrson et al, 2009) research demonstrates that the effects of nationalism are contingent on whether the nation is defined in ethnic or civic terms. Amid the various aspects of national identity, particularly nationalism—given its strong emphasis on an imagined homogeneous in-group—shows straightforward and well-documented linkages to ethnic threat, prejudice and anti-immigrant sentiment.…”

“…For these reasons, we use nationalism as a focal point in the analysis. 2 To take the different traditions in defining nationhood into account (Billiet et al, 2021); however, we will additionally include ethnic and civic citizenship conceptions as individual control variables.…”