Who are the Cosmopolitans? How perceived social sorting and social identities relate to European and national identities

Abstract

The question of how people can develop a transnational, cosmopolitan European identity has been the source of intense scholarly debate. Evidence reveals a socio-demographic divide, as, for example, people with higher levels of education feel more European than their counterparts. I argue that people take the socio-demographic profile of a political group into account when deciding how much to identify with this political camp. An individual is more likely to adopt a more robust European identity if she perceives that social groups she likes have the same pro-European opinion. In contrast, if she perceives that groups she likes sort in the anti-European camp, she will likely have a weaker European identity. Employing novel survey data from Italy and Austria, I find empirical support for my argument. This paper contributes to the debate which mechanisms connects social and political identities and explains how cleavages take hold in the mass public.

How do opinion-based and social group identities influence each other? Evidence from a survey experiment on class and transnational political issues

“…A second strand of the literature puts more weight on socialization through common experiences (Kuhn et al, 2021;Schraff and Sczepanski, 2022;Stubager, 2008). A third strand is based on how perceptions and discussions of social groups' identities can influence political identities (Huber et al, 2022;Kane et al, 2020;Mason and Wronski, 2018;Sczepanski, 2023b). While the first two strands focus on long-term influences on how identities might change, the third approach offers a more dynamic perspective on the process that links social groups and political identities.…”

“…Drawing on research from political psychology and the literature on representation, this approach emphasises how perceptions of parties or social groups are connected to the development of identities. For example, it matters to respondents whether people like them are represented in political parties (Elsässer and Schäfer, 2022;Evans and Tilley, 2017;Mansbridge, 1999) but also in political opinion groups (Elder and O'Brian, 2022;Mason and Wronski, 2018;Sczepanski, 2023b). People even reduce their partisan identity or change their support for political issues if they are informed that social groups they do not like are associated with the party or the issue (Huber et al, 2022;Kane et al, 2020).…”

“…Research has emphasized the dynamic nature of the link between social and political identities, demonstrating that social identities can influence political identities (Kane et al, 2020;Sczepanski, 2023b). These approaches reject a strictly structuralist perspective and emphasize that identities can also be influenced by perceptions of what other people a person identifies with believe and do.…”