Having a strong attachment to Europe might be crucial in understanding support for policies affecting ethnic minorities and migrants arriving in Europe. However, research examining this link is limited. In 4 out of 5 studies (N = 1,469), including correlational and experimental data, we found that greater European attachment was associated with support for restrictive policies such as border closures or increased security. These relationships were consistently explained by higher perceptions of realistic threat. European attachment did not show a significant association with support for inclusive policies such as those promoting the integration of cultural diversity or granting rights to minorities, in 4 out of 5 studies. However, meta-analytical integration of the data revealed a significant averaged indirect relationship: European attachment was associated with less support for inclusive policies via increased realistic threat. We discuss these findings while considering the sociopolitical context and the practical implications for Europe’s commitment to human rights.
BarberoI. (2018). The European Union never got rid of its internal controls. European Journal of Migration and Law, 20(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718166-12340018
2.
BarnesC. D.BrownR. P.OstermanL. L. (2012). Don’t tread on me: Masculine honor ideology in the US and militant responses to terrorism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(8), 1018–1029. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212443383
3.
Bar-TalD.HalperinE.de-RiveraJ. (2007). Collective emotions in conflict situations: Societal implications. Journal of Social Issues, 63(2), 441–460. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2007.00518.x
4.
BizmanA.YinonY. (2001). Intergroup and interpersonal threats as determinants of prejudice: The moderating role of ingroup identification. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 23(3), 191–196. https://doi.org/10.1207/153248301750433669
5.
BranscombeN. R.WannD. L. (1994). Collective self-esteem consequences of outgroup derogation when a valued social identity is on trial. European Journal of Social Psychology, 24(6), 641–657. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420240603
6.
CarriereK. R.HallahanA.MoghaddamF. M. (2022). The effect of perceived threat on human rights: A meta-analysis. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 25(1), 247–279. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220962563
CinnirellaM. (1997). Towards a European identity? Interactions between the national and European social identities manifested by university students in Britain and Italy. British Journal of Social Psychology, 36(1), 19–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.1997.tb01116.x
de FigueiredoR. J.Jr.ElkinsZ. (2003). Are patriots bigots? An inquiry into the vices of in-group pride. American Journal of Political Science, 47(1), 171–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5907.00012
12.
De LucasJ. (2011). Inmigrantes. Del estado de excepción al estado de derecho [Immigrants. From a state of emergency to the rule of law]. Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 1(3), 1–14.
13.
Díez-MedranoJ.GutiérrezP. (2001). Nested identities: National and European identity in Spain. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 24(5), 753–778. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870120063963
14.
DowleM.SrinivasanA. (2021). data. table: Extension of “data. frame” [R package].
15.
EssesV. M.DovidioJ. F.JacksonL. M.ArmstrongT. L. (2001). The immigration dilemma: The role of perceived group competition, ethnic prejudice, and national identity. Journal of Social Issues, 57(3), 389–413. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00220
16.
EssesV. M.DovidioJ. F.SemenyaA. H.JacksonL. M. (2005). Attitudes toward immigrants and immigration: The role of national and international identities. In AbramsD.HoggM. A.MarquesJ. M. (Eds.), The social psychology of inclusion and exclusion (pp. 317–337). Psychology Press.
17.
European Comission (2020, September9). Communication from the commission to the European parliament, the council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Brussels.
18.
Gil-BenumeyaD. (2018). Viejas políticas y nuevos racismos: La izquierda frente a la islamofobia [Old politics and new racisms: The left facing Islamophobia]. Revista de Estudios Internacionales Mediterráneos, 24, 49–70. https://doi.org/10.15366/reim2018.24.004
19.
GohJ. X.HallJ. A.RosenthalR. (2016). Mini meta-analysis of your own studies: some arguments on why and a primer on how. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10(10), 535–549. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12267
20.
Golec de ZavalaA.GuerraR.SimãoC. (2017). The relationship between the Brexit vote and individual predictors of prejudice: Collective narcissism, right wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02023
21.
GonzálezC. (2019). Europa vista desde Alemania, España, Francia e Italia [Europe seen from Germany, Spain, France and Italy]. Elcano Institute.
22.
GradH.SanzA. (2008). La contribución de valores, nacionalismo étnico e identidad comparativa a la xenofobia: Un estudio intercultural [The contribution of values, ethnic nationalism, and comparative identity to xenophobia: A cross-cultural study]. International Journal of Social Psychology, 23(3), 315–327. https://doi.org/10.1174/021347408785843033
23.
GreenE. G. T. (2007). Guarding the gates of Europe: A typological analysis of immigration attitudes across 21 countries. International Journal of Psychology, 42(6), 365–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207590600852454
24.
HasbúnP.MartinovićB.BobowikM.ChryssochoouX.CichockaA.Ernst-VintilaA.FrancR.FülöpE.GhilaniD. (2019). Support for collective action against refugees: The role of national, European, and global identifications, and autochthony beliefs. European Journal of Social Psychology, 49(7), 1439–1455. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2608
25.
HuL. T.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structured Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
26.
HuddyL.FeldmanS. (2011). Americans respond politically to 9/11: Understanding the impact of the terrorist attacks and their aftermath. American Psychologist, 66(6), 455–467. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024894
27.
HuddyL.FeldmanS.TaberC.LahavG. (2005). Threat, anxiety, and support of anti-terrorism policies. American Journal of Political Science, 49(3), 593–608. https://doi.org/10.2307/3647734
28.
ImhoffR.ReckerJ. (2012). Differentiating Islamophobia: Introducing a new scale to measure Islamoprejudice and secular Islam critique. Political Psychology, 33(6), 811–823. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2012.00911.x
29.
JacksonJ. S.BrownK. T.BrownT. N.MarksB. (2001). Contemporary immigration policy orientations among dominant group members in Western Europe. Journal of Social Issues, 57(3), 431–456. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00222
30.
JugertP.ŠerekJ.EcksteinK.NoackP. (2021). National and European identity formation: A longitudinal cross-national comparison study. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 21(1), 51–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2020.1856665
31.
KendeA.HadaricsM.SzabóZ. P. (2019). Inglorious glorification and attachment: National and European identities as predictors of anti- and pro-immigrant attitudes. British Journal of Social Psychology, 58(3), 569–590. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12280
32.
KleinD. N.KotovR.BufferdS. J. (2011). Personality and depression: Explanatory models and review of the evidence. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 7(1), 269–295. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032210-104540
33.
KoningsR.De ConinckD.d’HaenensL. (2023). The role of European and national identity and threat perceptions in attitudes towards immigrants. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 31(2), 446–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2021.2007058
34.
KuhnJ. H.AdkinsS.AliotoD.AlkhovskyS. V.AmarasingheG. K.AnthonyS. J.Avšič-ŽupancT.AyllónM. A.BahlJ.Balkema-BuschmannA.BallingerM. J.BartoničkaT.BaslerC.BavariS.BeerM.BenteD. A.BergeronÉ.BirdB. H.BlairC.. . .ZhouX. (2020). 2020 taxonomic update for phylum Negarnaviricota (Riboviria: Orthornavirae), including the large orders Bunyavirales and Mononegavirales. Archives of Virology, 165(12), 3023–3072. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-020-04731-2
35.
LeachC. W.van ZomerenM.ZebelS.VliekM. L. W.PennekampS. F.DoosjeB.OuwerkerkJ. W.SpearsR. (2008). Group-level self-definition and self-investment: A hierarchical (multicomponent) model of in-group identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 144–165. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.144
LicataL.KleinO. (2002). Does European citizenship breed xenophobia? European identification as a predictor of intolerance towards immigrants. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 12(5), 323–337. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.684
38.
McConahayJ. B. (1986). Modern racism, ambivalence, and the Modern Racism Scale. In DovidioJ. F.GaertnerS. L. (Eds.), Prejudice, discrimination, and racism (pp. 91–125). Academic Press.
39.
MuñozJ. (2009). From national-Catholicism to democratic patriotism? Democratization and reconstruction of national pride: The case of Spain (1981–2000). Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32(4), 616–639. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701710906
40.
National Institute of Statistics. (2022, March20). Resident population of Spain - January 1.
41.
NijsT.VerkuytenM.MartinovicB. (2022). Losing what is OURS: The intergroup consequences of collective ownership threat. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 25(2), 562–580. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220980809
42.
Núñez-SeixasX. M. (2001). What is Spanish nationalism today? From legitimacy crisis to unfulfilled renovation (1975–2000). Ethnic and Racial Studies, 24(5), 719–752. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870120063954
43.
PehrsonS.BrownR.ZagefkaH. (2009). When does national identification lead to the rejection of immigrants? Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence for the role of essentialist in-group definitions. British Journal of Social Psychology, 48(1), 61–76. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466608x288827
44.
PehrsonS.GreenE. G. T. (2010). Who we are and who can join us: National identity content and entry criteria for new immigrants. Journal of Social Issues, 66(4), 695–716. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2010.01671.x
45.
PehrsonS.VignolesV. L.BrownR. (2009). National identification and anti-immigrant prejudice: Individual and contextual effects of national definitions. Social Psychology Quarterly, 72(1), 24–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/019027250907200104
46.
PetkanopoulouK.Sánchez-RodríguezÁ.WillisG. B.ChryssochoouX.Rodríguez-BailónR. (2018). Two countries in crisis: Economic inequality in the EU and disidentification with Europe in Spain and Greece. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(6), 888–906. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117751201
47.
PolitiE.GaleJ.RoblainA.BobowikM.GreenE. G. T. (2023). Who is willing to help Ukrainian refugees and why? The role of individual prosocial dispositions and superordinate European identity. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 33(4), 940–953. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2689
48.
PreacherK. J.HayesA. F. (2008). Contemporary approaches to assessing mediation in communication research. In HayesA. F.SlaterM. D.SnyderL. B. (Eds.), The SAGE sourcebook of advanced data analysis methods for communication research (pp. 13–54). Sage.
49.
R Core Team. (2022). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/
50.
RappC. (2015). More diversity, less tolerance? The effect of type of cultural diversity on the erosion of tolerance in Swiss municipalities. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 38(10), 1779–1797. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2015.1015582
51.
RiekB. M.ManiaE. W.GaertnerS. L. (2006). Intergroup threat and outgroup attitudes: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(4), 336–353. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1004_4
52.
RoccasS.KlarY.LiviatanI. (2006). The paradox of group-based guilt: Modes of national identification, conflict vehemence, and reactions to the in-group’s moral violations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 698–711. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.4.698
53.
RosseelY. (2012). Lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48, 1–36. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i02
54.
RovenporD. R.LeidnerB.KardosP.O’BrienT. C. (2016). Meaning threat can promote peaceful, not only military-based approaches to intergroup conflict: The moderating role of ingroup glorification. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46(5), 544–562. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2183
55.
Ruiz-JiménezA. M.González-FernándezM. T.Jiménez SánchezM. (2015). Identifying with the nation: Spain’s left-wing citizens in an age of crisis. South European Society and Politics, 20(4), 487–508. https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2015.1040147
56.
SaharG. (2008). Patriotism, attributions for the 9/11 attacks, and support for war: Then and now. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 30(3), 189–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973530802374956
57.
SearsD. O.KinderD. R. (1985). Whites’ opposition to busing: On conceptualizing and operationalizing group conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48(5), 1141–1147. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.48.5.1148.a
58.
SekerdejM.KossowskaM. (2011). Motherland under attack! Nationalism, terrorist threat, and support for the restriction of civil liberties. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 42(1), 11–19. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10059-011-0003-0
SojkaA.VázquezR. (2014). Identidad europea en el sur de Europa: Un análisis comparado de las percepciones de las élites y opinión pública en España y Portugal [European identity in southern Europe: A comparative opinion of elite and public opinion perceptions in Spain and Portugal]. Revista Española de Ciencia Política, 36, 89–114.
61.
SpryC.HornseyM. (2007). The influence of blind and constructive patriotism on attitudes toward multiculturalism and immigration. Australian Journal of Psychology, 59(3), 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530701449489
62.
StephanW. G.BonieckiK. A.YbarraO.BettencourtA.ErvinK. S.JacksonL. A.McNattP. S.RenfroC. L. (2002). The role of threats in the racial attitudes of Blacks and Whites. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(9), 1242–1254. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672022812009
63.
StephanW. G.RenfroC. L. (2002). The role of threat in intergroup relations. In MackieD. M.SmithE. R. (Eds.), From prejudice to intergroup emotions: Differentiated reactions to social groups (pp. 191–207). Psychology Press.
64.
StephanW. G.RenfroC. L.EssesV. M.StephanC. W.MartinT. (2005). The effects of feeling threatened on attitudes toward immigrants. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.04.011
65.
TajfelH.TurnerJ. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In WorchelS.AustinW. G. (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relation (pp. 7–24). Hall Publishers.
66.
ThuillierF. (2004). La menace terroriste: essai de typologie [The terrorist threat: An attempt at typology]. Revue politique et parlementaire, 1028, 37–47.
67.
TurnerJ. C.ReynoldsK. J. (2001). The social identity perspective in intergroup relations: Theories, themes, and controversies. In BrownR.GaertnerS. (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology: Intergroup processes (Vol. 4, pp. 133–152). Blackwell.
68.
Van der NollJ. (2010). Public support for a ban on headscarves: A cross-national perspective. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 4(2), 191–203. https://doi.org/10.4119/ijcv-2825
69.
VerkuytenM. (2009). Support for multiculturalism and minority rights: The role of national identification and out-group threat. Social Justice Research, 22(1), 31–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-008-0087-7
70.
VerkuytenM.MartinovicB. (2015). Behind the ethnic–civic distinction: Public attitudes toward immigrants’ political rights in the Netherlands. Social Science Research, 53, 43–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2015.05.002
71.
ViechtbauerW. (2010). Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package. Journal of Statistical Software, 36(3), 1–48. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v036.i03
72.
VisintinE. P.GreenE. G. T.SarrasinO. (2018). Inclusive normative climates strengthen the relationship between identification with Europe and tolerant immigration attitudes: Evidence from 22 countries. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(6), 908–923. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117731092
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
