Domain-Dependent National Pride and Support for the Radical Right: Pride in the Nation's History

Populist radical right-wing's rhetoric often includes a reference to the nation's past when everything was supposed to be better. This runs from considered heroic times of the country in terms of war victory and economic grandeur to an idealized past which fits the ideology of nativism, meaning that a homogeneous society is preferred over a multicultural one. In this contribution, we study to what extent voters for the radical right indeed differ from voters of other party families in their pride in the nation's history. We compare this to other forms of domain-dependent national pride. Earlier studies suggested that not only nostalgia differentiates the radical right electorate from others, but that other positive attitudes in relation to the nation may do so as well. Making use of the International Social Survey Program data on national identity, we study domain-dependent national pride across European nations to answer whether it is pride in the nation's history that characterizes radical right voters when accounting for other dimensions of national attitudes

Collective nostalgia: Triggers and consequences for collective action intentions

Global trends surveys suggest that collective nostalgia for one's country is widespread. Moreover, research indicates that collective nostalgia is used by populist radical-right parties to mobilize their voters against immigration. We focused on antecedents of collective nostalgia and its consequences for collective action in the context of national identity. In particular, we hypothesized that collective nostalgia for the country's past is triggered by a sense of collective discontinuity and subsequently engenders collective action intentions to protect the national ingroup and limit the presence of immigrant outgroups. We tested this hypothesis in a three-wave longitudinal cross-lagged panel study (N = 1489) among native Dutch majority members. The results were consistent with the hypothesis. The findings highlight the relevance of collective nostalgia as an emotional response to collective discontinuity that drives collective action intentions aimed at protecting ingroup continuity. We discuss implications of the findings for the literature on collective nostalgia and group dynamics as well as the broader literature on collective action and provide directions for future research

Endorsing narratives under threat:maintaining perceived collective continuity through the protective power of ingroup narratives in Northern Ireland and Cyprus

In historically divided societies, narratives play an important role in understanding the maintenance and perception of identities and group status over time. Moving beyond the consequences of identity continuity perceptions, in this paper we were interested in the antecedents of perceived collective continuity, specifically the role of narratives and threat perceptions. We predicted that endorsement of ingroup narratives would be associated with higher perceived continuity through stronger perceptions of group threat. To test this hypothesis, we recruited participants from both majority and minority groups in Northern Ireland (N = 268) and in Cyprus (N = 413) to complete an online survey to examine their endorsement of ingroup and outgroup narratives, their perceptions of identity continuity and feelings of threat. We tested these predictions with path analyses. In line with our hypothesis, results demonstrate that, for both majority and minority groups, if group members feel threatened they are more likely to endorse their ingroup historical narrative as this helps them to maintain a sense of continuity of their ingroup identity. Findings are discussed in relation to the importance of considering narratives in intergroup relations

Tolerance of the Muslim headscarf: Perceived reasons for wearing a headscarf matter

In many West European countries, debates about Muslim women wearing a headscarf in public positions evolve around the question whether the reason for wearing it is personal choice, religious freedom or community pressures. This study uses national samples of Dutch and German majority group members (N = 3734) and an experimental design to investigate whether their tolerance of the headscarf worn by a civil servant depends on four perceived reasons for wearing it. The findings indicated that a headscarf that is perceived to be worn out of personal choice was tolerated the most, and for reasons of normative community pressures was tolerated the least, with perceived reasons of religious and cultural identity enactment in between. Additionally, we found that higher (versus lower) authoritarian individuals were less likely to differentiate between the different reasons. In conclusion, perceived motives and authoritarianism are important to consider in understanding majority group members’ tolerance of the headscarf