scholarly journals Favouring a disunited Kingdom? How negative perceptions of the EU-referendum relate to individual mobility and collective action considerations

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-51
Author(s):  
Lara Ditrich ◽  
Edit Z. Gedeon ◽  
Kai Sassenberg

One consequence of the EU-referendum’s pro-Brexit outcome was a renewed call for Scottish independence. Supporting this call can be construed as a form of collective action Scots may engage in. However, Scots may also consider individual mobility strategies including - in extreme cases - emigration. The current research investigated how identity-dynamics relate to these identity management strategies in post-referendum Scotland. We found a positive association between perceiving the EU-referendum as having violated expectations and considering individual mobility responses, mediated by identity subversion (i.e., the perception that the referendum results fundamentally changed the UK’s identity). Furthermore, we found that perceiving the EU-referendum as having violated expectations was related to higher collective action intentions, mediated by disidentification from UK citizens. Taken together, these findings underscore the pervasive role social identity processes play in shaping political decisions and individual behaviour.

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gideon Mazambani ◽  
Stephen Reysen ◽  
Shonda Gibson ◽  
LaVelle Hendricks

We examined the association between socio-structural intergroup characteristics (i.e., permeability of groupboundaries, legitimacy of status difference between ingroup and outgroups, stability of status difference) andstudents’ intention to join the university alumni association. Prior theory and research suggests that group membersassess the intergroup context to direct identity management strategies (e.g., leave group, collective action). Collegestudents in their last semester at a university were asked to rate the perceived socio-structural characteristics of theingroup (compared to other universities) and their intention to join the alumni association. The results showed thatperceiving one’s ingroup as legitimately high status and in a stable intergroup context predicted greater intention tojoin the alumni association. Consistent with prior theory, the results suggest that viewing one’s ingroup aslegitimately high status predicts endorsement of actions to maintain a positive and distinct identity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Nuri Akdoğan ◽  
Kenan Alparslan ◽  
Kenan Alparslan

There are several studies suggesting that disadvantaged groups display positive attitudes towards advantaged groups. System Justification Theorists have conceptualised that attitudes as out-group favouritism, whereas Social Identity Theorists have described it as the attitude of members identifying with the advantaged group, reflecting in-group favouritism. As the level of participants’ identification with both groups is not measured in those studies, it is not clear enough which theory they support. This study, conducted with 145 people living in Turkey and define themselves as Kurdish, aims to examine the attitudes of the participants towards the disadvantaged Kurdish in-group and the advantaged Turkish out-group in terms of the participant’s level of identification with both groups and the identity management strategies (individual mobility, social competition, superordinate re-categorisation) followed by the participants. For this purpose, the participants dividing into three clusters depending on their level of identification with both groups were compared in terms of their intergroup attitudes and the strategies they followed. The results indicated that the participants who identified with the Turkish group on a higher level had favouritism towards Turks and followed the individual mobility and superordinate re-categorisation strategies. On the other hand, the participants who identified with the Kurdish group on a higher level had favouritism towards Kurds and followed the social competition strategy. These results support Social Identity Theory, suggesting that disadvantaged group members’ positive attitudes towards advantaged groups reflect in-group favouritism, not out-group favouritism. This is because they identify themselves through advantaged groups as a result of certain strategies.


2019 ◽  
pp. 138-162
Author(s):  
Edward Fieldhouse ◽  
Jane Green ◽  
Geoffrey Evans ◽  
Jonathan Mellon ◽  
Christopher Prosser ◽  
...  

The 2015 General Election saw a collapse in Labour support in Scotland resulting in almost total annihilation in terms of parliamentary seats north of the border. In this chapter we show how the referendum on independence in Scotland in September 2014 precipitated this upheaval. We show that the Scottish independence referendum had a realigning effect on party identification in Scotland, cementing the link between SNP voting and pro-independence attitudes. Two years later, a second electoral shock in the form of the EU referendum disrupted this new political equilibrium in Scotland.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Osmond

This paper examines the electoral and ideological contest that has taken place between Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru in the five National Assembly elections that have been held between 1999 and 2016. Both parties have found success when they have managed to combine effective leadership with a coherent programme and a strong sense of Welsh identity. However, the Welsh vote to leave the EU in the June 2016 referendum has dealt both parties a poor hand in speaking up for Welsh interests. Can they find a common cause in working together and also with Scotland to take Wales forward in a progressive constitutional direction?


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy R. Tavitian ◽  
Michael Bender ◽  
Fons J. R. Van de Vijver ◽  
Athanasios Chasiotis ◽  
Hrag A. Vosgerichian

How people deal with adversity, in terms of threats to their social or ethnic identity has been extensively investigated. However, most studies have focused on samples (e.g. minority groups) from prototypical Western contexts. It is unclear how individuals perceive and deal with identity threats within non-Western plural contexts characterized by intergroup conflict. We therefore assess whether self-affirmation by recalling a past success can buffer against identity threat in the plural, non-Western context of Lebanon. In two studies we investigate how threats are negotiated at a national (Lebanon) (Study 1) and ethnic minority (Armenian) level (Study 2). In Study 1, we show that in a context characterized by a history of intergroup conflict, a superordinate national identity is non-salient. When investigating the content of memories of a sectarian group in Study 2, we find a hypersalient and chronically accessible ethnic identity, a pattern specific to Armenian Lebanese. We suggest that this hyper-salience is employed as a spontaneous identity management strategy by a minority group coping with constant continuity threat. Our findings point to the importance of expanding the study of identity processes beyond the typically Western contexts and in turn, situating them within their larger socio-political and historical contexts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-211
Author(s):  
Lesley-Ann Daniels ◽  
Alexander Kuo

Abstract Has the UK referendum to leave the EU (Brexit) affected territorial preferences within the UK? We draw on comparative theories of such preferences to address this question, as Brexit can be seen as a shock to a political unit. We test hypotheses in two key regions, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with original surveys fielded at a unique time (September 2019). We randomize making salient different Brexit scenarios and measure support for Scottish independence and unification with Ireland within each region. We find in Scotland the prospect of leaving the EU increases support for independence. This effect is pronounced among those who support the UK remaining in the EU. In Northern Ireland, religious background correlates highly with territorial views, and we find little evidence of Brexit or border-scenario effects. Our results contribute to the literature on decentralization processes and the EU, and provide evidence of when negative shocks affect such preferences.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damaliah Gibson ◽  
Lewis Schlosser ◽  
Raymond Brockmurray

2020 ◽  
pp. 203228442097693
Author(s):  
Gavin Robinson

When the idea of this special edition occurred to the team behind the New Journal of European Criminal Law, my first thought was to go back through all of Scott Crosby’s contributions in print as editor-in-chief and see whether a mini-retrospective on the themes and views therein would be worthy of inclusion here – by Scott’s own standards. These notes focus on what gradually became the single biggest concern expressed in Scott’s editorials: the perilous position of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in a post-Brexit UK – in concreto, the prospect of what he labelled ‘Brexit plus’: a British exit from the ECHR system. I begin with Scott’s views on the European Union (EU) Referendum and the Brexit process. Next comes the great uncertainty currently surrounding the future of Convention rights in the United Kingdom, set against the emphasis placed by the editorials on the instrumental role of the ECHR in fostering peace across the whole of Europe, within and beyond the territory of the EU. In the event that Brexit plus should materialise, writing in the wake of polls showing all-time record support in Scotland for secession from the United Kingdom I close by asking whether Scotland might be able to ‘leave a light on for Strasbourg’.


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