scholarly journals The individual and the nation: A qualitative analysis of US liberal and conservative identity content

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 378-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Hanson ◽  
Emma O’Dwyer ◽  
Evanthia Lyons

Recent research highlights the significant role of political ideological identities in America’s increasing political polarisation. In line with social identity theory, self-placement as a US liberal or conservative predicts favouritism toward the ideological in-group and negative attitudes and behaviours toward the outgroup. The theory also holds that the link between self-categorisation and behaviour is mediated by the content of that identity, by what an individual believes it means to be a member of that group. Although previous research has done much to analyse the differences between US liberals and conservatives on various a priori dimensions, little work has been aimed at gaining a holistic account of ideological identity content from the individual’s lay perspective. Through qualitative analysis of 40 interviews (20 liberals and 20 conservatives), this study identifies central themes in the meaning self-identified US liberals and conservatives attribute to these labels and finds evidence for asymmetrical constructions of these identities. The liberal participant group’s identity construction revolved around identification as, and concern for, individuals, supported by reference to personal values and political issues and underpinned by a motivation to move toward a more equal society. Conversely, the conservative participant group connected the understanding of their identity directly to the political ideology of the nation through a thread of self-reliance and reverence for the national group. Implications for political behaviour and the study of ideological identity are discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-70
Author(s):  
Cahyo Pamungkas

This article aims to investigate the relationship between ethno-religious identity and the social distancebetween Muslims and Christians in Ambon and Yogyakarta, taking into account factors at the individual level.Also, this research is addressed to fll a gap in the literature between studies that emphasize economic andpolitical competition as the main sources of con?ict, and studies that focus on prejudice and discriminationas causes of con?ict. The central question is: to what extent is ethno-religious identifcation present amongMuslims and Christians in Ambon and Yogyakarta and observable in their daily lives? This research usessocial identity theory that attempts to question why people like their in-group, and dislike out-groups. Thetheory says that individuals struggle for positive in-group distinctiveness, and have positive attitudes towardtheir in-group and negative attitudes towards out-groups. This research uses both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A survey was conducted with 1500 university students from six universities in Ambon andYogyakarta. By using quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis, this study came up with several fndings. Firstly, the study found high levels of religious identifcation among Muslim and Christian respondents,demonstrated by their participation in religious practices, which we defne as frequency of praying, attendingreligious services, and reading the Holy Scriptures. Secondly, social distance consists of contact avoidance,avoidance of future spouses from another religion, and the support for residential segregation. Di?erencesfrom the mean show that Muslim respondents tend to display higher contact avoidance and support forresidential segregation compared to Christian respondents. Thirdly, analysis of variance demonstrates thatelements of ethno-religious identity are related signifcantly to elements of social distance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Kyle Goslin ◽  
Markus Hofmann

<p>Automatic Search Query Enhancement (ASQE) is the process of modifying a user submitted search query and identifying terms that can be added or removed to enhance the relevance of documents retrieved from a search engine. ASQE differs from other enhancement approaches as no human interaction is required. ASQE algorithms typically rely on a source of a priori knowledge to aid the process of identifying relevant enhancement terms. This paper describes the results of a qualitative analysis of the enhancement terms generated by the Wikipedia NSubstate Algorithm (WNSSA) for ASQE. The WNSSA utilises Wikipedia as the sole source of a priori knowledge during the query enhancement process. As each Wikipedia article typically represents a single topic, during the enhancement process of the WNSSA, a mapping is performed between the user’s original search query and Wikipedia articles relevant to the query. If this mapping is performed correctly, a collection of potentially relevant terms and acronyms are accessible for ASQE. This paper reviews the results of a qualitative analysis process performed for the individual enhancement term generated for each of the 50 test topics from the TREC-9 Web Topic collection. The contributions of this paper include: (a) a qualitative analysis of generated WNSSA search query enhancement terms and (b) an analysis of the concepts represented in the TREC-9 Web Topics, detailing interpretation issues during query-to-Wikipedia article mapping performed by the WNSSA.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
See Seng Tan

Abstract: The longstanding effort to develop a people-based regionalism in Southeast Asia has been shaped by an inherent tension between the liberal inclination to privilege the individual and the community under formation, on the one hand, and the realist insistence on the primacy of the state, on the other. This article explores the conditions and constraints affecting ASEAN’s progress in remaking Southeast Asia into a people-focused and caring community in three areas: disaster management, development, and democratization (understood here as human rights). Arguably, the persistent gap in Southeast Asia between aspiration and expectation is determined less by political ideology than by the pragmatic responses of ASEAN member states to the forces of nationalism and protectionism, as well as their respective sense of local and regional responsibility.Resumen: El esfuerzo histórico para desarrollar un regionalismo basado en las personas del sudeste de Asia ha estado marcado por una tensión fundamental entre la inclinación liberal de privilegiar el individuo y la comunidad y la insistencia realista sobre la primacía del estado. Este artículo explora las condiciones y limitaciones que afectan el progreso de la ASEAN en la reestructuración de Asia sudoriental en una comunidad centrada en el cuidado de las personas en: gestión de desastres, desarrollo y democratización (i.e., derechos humanos). La brecha persistente en el sudeste asiático entre la aspiración y la expectativa está determinada por las respuestas pragmáticas de los miembros de la ASEAN sometidos a las fuerzas del nacionalismo y proteccionismo, así como su respectivo sentido de responsabilidad local y regional.Résumé: L’effort historique pour développer un régionalisme fondé sur les peuples en Asie du Sud-Est a été marqué par une tension fondamentale entre l’inclination libérale qui privilégie, d’une part, l’individu et la communauté et, d’autre part, l’insistance réaliste sur la primauté de l’État. Cet article explore les conditions et les contraintes qui nuisent aux progrès de l’ANASE dans le cadre d’une refonte de l’Asie du Sud-Est en une communauté centrée et attentive aux peuples dans trois domaines : la gestion des désastres, le développement et la démocratisation (en référence aux droits humains). Le fossé persistant en Asie du Sud-Est entre les aspirations et les attentes est vraisemblablement moins déterminé par l’idéologie politique que par les réponses pragmatiques des États membres de l’ANASE soumis aux forces du nationalisme et du protectionnisme ainsi que par leur sens respectif de la responsabilité locale et régionale.


Author(s):  
Mikhail Konstantinov

The aim of the article is to concretize the concept of political ideology in the aspect of its matrix structure and in the context of the cognitive-evolutionary approach. Based on Michael Frieden's morphological approach to the analysis of ideological consciousness, the concept of cognitive-ideological matrices is introduced, which allows us to describe the process of transition from proto-ideological to ideological concepts proper, especially at the level of individual consciousness. The identification of the ideological concept as the main “gene” of conceptual variability and inheritance made it possible to describe the main parameters of the evolution of political ideologies and associate it with changes taking place at the individual consciousness level. The described concept was tested in a series of sociological studies of youth consciousness conducted in 2015-2016 and 2018-2020. As a result of the study, it was possible to first identify the “zero level” of ideology, at which the minds of young respondents are potentially open to the influence of diverse and often mutually exclusive ideological orientations, and second, to pinpoint the changes that have occurred in the cognitive ideological matrices of Rostov-on-Don students over the past five years. This study was conducted by scientists from the southern Federal University.


2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 392-401
Author(s):  
Volker Kaul

Liberalism believes that individuals are endowed a priori with reason or at least agency and it is up to that reason and agency to make choices, commitments and so on. Communitarianism criticizes liberalism’s explicit and deliberate neglect of the self and insists that we attain a self and identity only through the effective recognition of significant others. However, personal autonomy does not seem to be a default position, neither reason nor community is going to provide it inevitably. Therefore, it is so important to go beyond the liberal–communitarian divide. This article is analysing various proposals in this direction, asks about the place of communities and the individual in times of populism and the pandemic and provides a global perspective on the liberal–communitarian debate.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252198919
Author(s):  
Roderik Rekker

People have a tendency to disregard information that contradicts their partisan or ideological identity. This inclination can become especially striking when citizens reject notions that scientists would consider “facts” in the light of overwhelming scientific evidence and consensus. The resulting polarization over science has reached alarming levels in recent years. This theoretical review conceptualizes political polarization over science and argues that it is driven by two interrelated processes. Through psychological science rejection, people can implicitly disregard scientific facts that are inconsistent with their political identity. Alternatively, citizens can engage in ideological science rejection by adhering to a political ideology that explicitly contests science. This contestation can in turn be subdivided into four levels of generalization: An ideology can dispute either specific scientific claims, distinct research fields, science in general, or the entire political system and elite. By proposing this interdisciplinary framework, this article aims to integrate insights from various disciplines.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1399
Author(s):  
Jure Oder ◽  
Cédric Flageul ◽  
Iztok Tiselj

In this paper, we present uncertainties of statistical quantities of direct numerical simulations (DNS) with small numerical errors. The uncertainties are analysed for channel flow and a flow separation case in a confined backward facing step (BFS) geometry. The infinite channel flow case has two homogeneous directions and this is usually exploited to speed-up the convergence of the results. As we show, such a procedure reduces statistical uncertainties of the results by up to an order of magnitude. This effect is strongest in the near wall regions. In the case of flow over a confined BFS, there are no such directions and thus very long integration times are required. The individual statistical quantities converge with the square root of time integration so, in order to improve the uncertainty by a factor of two, the simulation has to be prolonged by a factor of four. We provide an estimator that can be used to evaluate a priori the DNS relative statistical uncertainties from results obtained with a Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes simulation. In the DNS, the estimator can be used to predict the averaging time and with it the simulation time required to achieve a certain relative statistical uncertainty of results. For accurate evaluation of averages and their uncertainties, it is not required to use every time step of the DNS. We observe that statistical uncertainty of the results is uninfluenced by reducing the number of samples to the point where the period between two consecutive samples measured in Courant–Friedrichss–Levy (CFL) condition units is below one. Nevertheless, crossing this limit, the estimates of uncertainties start to exhibit significant growth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 817-847
Author(s):  
Sebastian Gardner

AbstractCritics have standardly regarded Sartre’s Critique of Dialectical Reason as an abortive attempt to overcome the subjectivist individualism of his early philosophy, motivated by a recognition that Being and Nothingness lacks ethical and political significance, but derailed by Sartre’s Marxism. In this paper I offer an interpretation of the Critique which, if correct, shows it to offer a coherent and highly original account of social and political reality, which merits attention both in its own right and as a reconstruction of the philosophical foundation of Marxism. The key to Sartre’s theory of collective and historical existence in the Critique is a thesis carried over from Being and Nothingness: intersubjectivity on Sartre’s account is inherently aporetic, and social ontology reproduces in magnified form its limited intelligibility, lack of transparency, and necessary frustration of the demands of freedom. Sartre’s further conjecture – which can be formulated a priori but requires a posteriori verification – is that man’s collective historical existence may be understood as the means by which the antinomy within human freedom, insoluble at the level of the individual, is finally overcome. The Critique provides therefore the ethical theory promised in Being and Nothingness.


2021 ◽  
pp. 136843022097829
Author(s):  
Rosemary L. Al-Kire ◽  
Michael H. Pasek ◽  
Jo-Ann Tsang ◽  
Joseph Leman ◽  
Wade C. Rowatt

Attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policies are divisive issues in American politics. These attitudes are influenced by factors such as political orientation and religiousness, with religious and conservative individuals demonstrating higher prejudice toward immigrants and refugees, and endorsing stricter immigration policies. Christian nationalism, an ideology marked by the belief that America is a Christian nation, may help explain how religious nationalist identity influences negative attitudes toward immigrants. The current research addresses this through four studies among participants in the US. Across studies, our results showed that Christian nationalism was a significant and consistent predictor of anti-immigrant stereotypes, prejudice, dehumanization, and support for anti-immigrant policies. These effects were robust to inclusion of other sources of anti-immigrant attitudes, including religious fundamentalism, nationalism, and political ideology. Further, perceived threats from immigrants mediated the relationship between Christian nationalism and dehumanization of immigrants, and attitudes toward immigration policies. These findings have implications for our understanding of the relations between religious nationalism and attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy in the US, as well as in other contexts.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 650-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie J. Shook ◽  
Russ Clay

A considerable amount of research indicates that political conservatives and liberals perceive their social worlds very differently, with conservatives perceiving the world more negatively than liberals. Two studies examined how these varying perceptions may develop by exploring the relation between political ideology and attitude formation. In both studies, participants completed an evaluative conditioning paradigm in which novel stimuli were paired with either positive or negative images. Political conservatives were more susceptible to conditioning with negative stimuli than conditioning with positive stimuli as compared to political liberals. Specifically, conservatives were less susceptible to conditioning with positive stimuli than liberals. Conditioning with negative stimuli did not differ by political ideology. These findings suggest fundamental differences in the formation of positive versus negative attitudes between conservatives and liberals.


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