“Everything Will Be All Right!” National and European Identification as Predictors of Positive Expectations for the Future During the COVID-19 Emergency

Abstract

During the first national lockdown imposed in a Western country to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Italians tried to boost their spirits by hanging hand-drawn rainbows with the slogan “Everything will be all right” from their windows. To understand which processes might have nurtured their positive views about the future during the pandemic, the present study (N=846), building upon social identity research, examined the relationships among Italians’ identification with their country and with the superordinate entity of the European Union (EU), trust in the main institutions in charge of managing the crisis (i.e., the Italian government, the EU, and the scientific community), and beliefs that the COVID-19 crisis would eventually result in the improvement of society. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that identification with Italians and Europeans had positive direct associations with positive expectations about humankind. Identification with Europeans was also directly related to positive expectations about Italian leaders and the strengthening of the EU through the crisis. Trust in the Italian government and, to a lower extent, trust in the EU mediated some of these associations. These findings suggest that governments should actively promote national and European identification to help citizens counter the negative psychological impact of the pandemic and maintain positive views of the future.

The Long-COVID Experience Changed People’s Vaccine Hesitancy but Not Their Vaccination Fear

“…Accordingly, it is believed that various information campaigns to be carried out in the future will create positive awareness about the vaccine fear and vaccine hesitancy status of the public. Moreover, the literature showed that identification with both membership groups, the national government and supranational entities (e.g., the European Union) can model and affect vaccine fear and vaccine hesitancy, helping to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic [ 82 , 83 ].…”

So Far, So Close: Identification with Proximal and Distal Groups as a Resource in Dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Our results also illuminate the importance of European identification. Previous research has shown that European identity constitutes a protective factor that increases trust in institutions and improves expectations regarding the future [ 35 ], while reducing the wishes for stronger leadership [ 36 ]. The present study adds to this evidence by showing the role of European identification in promoting behaviors that effectively combat the pandemic.…”

“…The questionnaire includes other measures that are not analyzed in the present paper (e.g., positive expectations about the future, coping strategies). Findings from the entire research project were already included in a previous publication [ 35 ], which focused on a different issue and tested different hypotheses. Two of the measures considered here (identification with Italians and identification with Europeans) were included in the publication.…”

“…These senses of shared identities increase trust toward other group members [ 33 , 34 ]. In a study conducted in Italy, Moscatelli et al [ 35 ] found that higher national and European identifications fueled respondents’ optimistic expectations about the post-pandemic future, leading to the improvement of governments and humankind. The effects of national and European identifications on the positive views of the future have been explained by reference to increased trust in political institutions, such as the Italian government and the EU.…”

Do we need a strong captain to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic? Social identification, conspiracy theory beliefs, and the wish for a strong leader

“…The present study analyzed possible psychosocial antecedents that buffered or increased the wish for a strong leader during the COVID-19 crisis. First, we drew from research in the social identity framework ( Tajfel and Turner, 1979 ), which emphasized that people cope with crises more effectively if they can rely on a stronger sense of belonging and connectedness to significant groups ( Jetten et al, 2020 ; Moscatelli et al, 2021 ). Accordingly, we examined whether Italians’ increasing levels of identification with two significant entities involved in facing the pandemic – namely, their nation and the superordinate entity of the European Union (EU) – were related to a lower wish for a strong leader.…”