The pandemic and the question of national belonging: Exposure to covid‐19 threat and conceptions of nationhood

Abstract

Drawing on the behavioural immune system hypothesis, we argue that the prevalence of the Covid‐19 pandemic threat in an individual's respective environment relates to exclusive, ethnic conceptions of nationhood. Referring to the affective intelligence theory, we maintain that specific negative emotions are prompted by the perception of being exposed to a pandemic threat, and these emotional states in turn structure political preferences regarding national belonging. Using an original survey in six European countries during the first peak of the pandemic in late April and early May 2020, we analyze both the impact of individual Covid‐19 experiences and the contextual exposure to a pandemic threat through hierarchical analyses of 105 European regions. Our empirical analysis shows that exposure to the pandemic is linked to stronger ethnic national identities for both levels of analysis. We also find that anger substantially mediates this relationship and has primacy over feelings of fear. Taken together, our results indicate that the behavioural immune system appears as a pervasive obstacle to inclusive orientations.

Pandemic threat and authoritarian attitudes in Europe: An empirical analysis of the exposure to COVID-19

“… 1. This article was written as part of the research project ‘The Politics of Public Health Threat’ that is financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Berne University Research Foundation. In this context, reference should also be made to the contributions by Freitag and Hofstetter (2022) and Wamsler et al (2022), who are elaborating theoretically and empirically similar designs in a coherent research program.…”

Tend‐and‐befriend and rally around the flag effects during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Differential longitudinal change patterns in multiple aspects of social cohesion

“…For example, the pathogen prevalence theory states that the threat of pathogen exposure can lead to behavioural manifestations of collectivism (Fincher et al, 2008). In line with this, levels of ingroup attraction (Meleady et al, 2021) and national belonging were consistently found to be elevated during the first COVID-19 related lockdown in European countries (Wamsler et al, 2022).…”

Dimensions of social trust and national identity: Addressing a multifaceted relationship

“…8 Given that recent research argues that ethnic and civic conceptions of nationhood are understood best not as two distinct concepts but as ideal points within a common sphere, where individuals may subscribe to different indicators to a varying extent (Kunovich, 2009; see also Ariely, 2020; Brubaker, 1999; Reeskens & Hooghe, 2010; Smith, 1991), the operationalisation was conducted in the following way: First, the items on political institutions and language that reflect more civic conceptions of nationhood were reversed to highlight differences between the two sets of items. Second, all four items were combined into one continuous, additive index so that higher values represent a primarily ethnic view on national belonging, whereas lower values show ones that are closer to the civic ideal type (see also McLaren, 2017; Miller & Ali, 2014; Wamsler et al, 2022). 9 To assess if any of the hypothesised relationships is contingent on this particular measurement approach, I employ two further measurements for conceptions of nationhood as a robustness check.…”

“…Although originally developed as a two‐dimensional framework at the level of entire nations (Brubaker, 1992; Kohn, 1944), research on individual‐level conceptions of nationhood has long stated that both ideal types exist only in theory (Brubaker, 1999; Kuzio, 2002). Most individuals combine elements of civic and ethnic criteria for defining national belonging (Miller & Ali, 2014; Parekh, 1999; Reeskens & Hooghe, 2010; Sarrasin et al, 2020; Wamsler et al, 2022) and may thus be located at an identifiable point on a sphere between the two ideal types.…”