Psychological Theories for Nationalism and National Identity

Compare and contrast alternative psychological accounts of nationalism and national identity. You should illustrate your answer with both theoretical and applied examples.

This essay will
look to compare and contrast alternative psychological accounts of nationalism
and national identity using various theoretical and applied examples.

Nationalism can be briefly described as a theory that gives people an identity as a nation through the imposition of similar identities. Kohn (1944) described it as an ideology based on the premise that the individual’s loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpass other individual or group interests. National Identity can be briefly described as a person’s identity or sense of belonging in relation to their nation. National identity can often refer to how a group of people feel about a nation, regardless of their ‘citizenship’ status. In psychological terms, it is viewed as “an awareness of difference”, a “feeling and recognition of ‘we’ and ‘they’” (Hewson et al. 2015).

Adorno et al. (1950) cited in (Hewson et al. 2015) conducted
studies on authoritarian personality, they looked to explain what leads people
to violence through extremist beliefs. In their research, they used quantitative
data from questionnaires administered to 2000 participants asking them how much
they agreed or disagreed with specific statements. They developed three scales
to carry out their research, The Anti-Semitism scale, The Politico-Economic
scale and The Ethnocentrism scale. Adorno et al. (1950) believed that people
were attached to their nation and prejudice towards others. In contrast to the
research Adorno and his colleagues carried out, a social psychologist named
Billing developed the ‘banal nationalism’ framework in 1995. Billig (1995)
suggested that nationalism is down to common sense and not simply limited to
extremist behaviour. He proposed that by viewing the world as being separated
by nations is perfectly natural and nationalism is reproduced by our everyday
routines. An example of ‘banal nationalism’ can be seen in the weather reports,
Billig argued that “reports of the weather reproduce a nationalistic frame of
thinking about the world” (Hewson et al. 2015, p. 252). A report of the weather
in the UK can often be displayed as a map image of the country, people are
expected to know the country from the shape with no mention of its name in the
report. Billig studied the work of Benedict Anderson (1983) as he wanted to
gain an understanding of nationalism and concluded that it was a whole new way
of developing a community in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.
Anderson (1983) defines the nation as an “imagined political community”, he
uses the term imagined due to people of different nations never really knowing
one another, talk to one another, or even meet but they share an identical
belief about their community.

Condor (2000) conducted a study using 115 English
participants and gathered qualitative data by carrying out interviews. She
discovered that national identity was of no real importance to the participants
personally and there was no demonstration of national pride amongst them.
Condor (2000) suggested that there was an unquestioned assumption when it came
to diving people into clear-cut boxes of different countries and shown using
‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘they’ within the interviews. Comparatively, an example of ‘banal
nationalism’ is the ‘nationalistic’ use of language. ‘The weather’ is a common
phrase used to refer to the weather of ‘our’ own nation and is an example of an
uncommon and comparable entity within that nation. A major influence on the
research of nationalism was the ‘banal nationalism’ framework developed by
Billig (1995), however, various issues were identified that the framework was
unable to explain. Billig (1995) focused his study national media, yet, there
is a wide range of media sources that we can access including the internet.
Using the internet suggests that people view the world as globally connected as
opposed to just nationally. Billig’s work on nationalism as part of everyday
life is by no means debased by the issues raised, instead it is suggested that
“the nation as a primary source of identification may be losing its grasp on at
least some people in the world” (Hewson et al, 2015, p. 255).

Two campaigns that preceded the Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum made appeals to the Scottish nation and an assumption was made that the Scottish community shared a unique identity. The ‘Better Together’ campaign argued for Scotland to remain in the UK, unlike the ‘Yes Scotland’ campaign which argued for an independent Scottish state (Hewson et al. 2015). Reicher and Hopkins (2001) described these campaigns as ‘action oriented’ as they look to pull the Scottish nation together, albeit not in the same direction. ‘Better Together’ looks to create Scotland as a diverse nation, on the other hand, ‘Yes Scotland’ portrays Scotland as an independent nation thus leading to the suggestion by Reicher and Hopkins that perhaps national identity is also future oriented and demonstrates that it can be manipulated and constructed in a way that benefits politics. Politicians will do what they can to bring a nation to their way of thinking to help achieve their goals. Contrasted with Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum is the study by Augoustinos and De Garis (2012) on ‘political rhetoric’ cited in (Hewson et al. 2015). They studied the speeches made by Barack Obama in his pre-election campaign (2007-2008). Obama’s identity came under scrutiny by many as he was either seen as ‘too black’ or ‘not black enough’ to represent America, as he is of a mixed race he was deemed an unconventional candidate. A speech by Obama in 2008 was analysed by Augoustinos and De Garis and it was clear to see that Obama wanted to implement a national identity for everyone in America. The principles of justice, equality and freedom were the basis for this identity, Obama wanted to unite America as one regardless of class, gender and race.

Hewson et al. (2015, p. 261) stated that national identity
can be seen as being constructed on the basis of distinctiveness of ‘others’.
Migrants, for example, are commonly viewed as a threat to nations by taking
‘our’ jobs, increasing unemployment and sponging off the government as well as
bringing about cultural changes to society. However, on a positive note,
migrants can also enrich society with cultural changes and contribute to the
economy. ‘Othering’ is the process in which migrants are viewed as different
and inferior (Hewson et al. 2015). Lea and Lynn (2003) studied how asylum
seekers are portrayed in letters to the editors of eight major British
newspapers. Asylum seekers were placed into one of two groups ‘Genuine’ and
‘Bogus’, those who made a genuine case for asylum came under ‘Genuine’ and
those who came under ‘Bogus’ were economic immigrants simply using asylum to
gain permission to reside in the country. Maloney (2007) drew similar
conclusions in her study in Australia where 115 participants were asked to
describe their thoughts on asylum seekers or refugees using the first five
words that came into their heads. She discovered that the views of participants
differed, some viewed asylum seekers or refugees as scared and in desperate
need of our help while others viewed them as a nuisance and unwanted (Hewson et
al, 2015).

This essay has compared and contrasted alternative psychological accounts of
nationalism and national identity using various theoretical and applied
examples.

There have been suggestions that nations
are socially constructed and natural, it is fair to say that we view the world
as being made up of various nations. The arrival of migrants can be viewed as
having a positive and negative effect on a nation and that immigration could
possibly challenge the notion that identities are unprecedented and
conflicting. Both national and cultural identities can be interconnected.

The structure of national identities is
often vital when it comes to politicians advancing themselves and the interests
of different people or groups. There are very different views about producing what
the nation is and who should be a part of it which often comes from the media
and political rhetoric, therefore, national identities and their meanings can
change.

Research studies demonstrated that
national identity was of no real importance to participants personally and no
demonstration of national pride amongst them. Using various media sources such
as the internet suggests that people view the world as globally connected as
opposed to just nationally.

In psychological terms, national
identity is viewed as “an awareness of difference”, a “feeling
and recognition of ‘we’ and ‘they’”

Nationalism allows a person to develop a sense of identity
by attaching themselves to a nation, therefore, nationalism in itself is a form
of national identity. 

References

Citelighter.
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Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1999. Nationalism [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/nationalism. [Accessed 4 January 2018].

Hewson, C.
Mahendran, K. Stevens, P. Turner, J. (2015). Living Psychology: From the Everyday to the Extraordinary. Milton
Keynes: The Open University. Pp. 158-183.

Hewson, C.
Mahendran, K. Stevens, P. Turner, J. (2015). Living Psychology: From the Everyday to the Extraordinary. Milton
Keynes: The Open University. Pp. 223-230.

Hewson, C.
Mahendran, K. Stevens, P. Turner, J. (2015). Living Psychology: From the Everyday to the Extraordinary. Milton
Keynes: The Open University. Pp. 248-263.

OUPblog. 2015. ‘Us’ and ‘Them’: Can we define national identity. [ONLINE] Available at: https://blog.oup.com/2015/09/how-define-national-identity/. [Accessed 8 January 2018].

Quora. 2015. Are national identity and nationalism the same
thing. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.quora.com/Are-national-identity-and-nationalism-the-same-thing.
[Accessed 7 January 2018].

The Open University (2017) ‘Week 10: Nations
and Immigration, DD210, 4 Nationalism: ‘hot’ and ‘banal’.
[ONLINE]. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1056196&section=4.  [Accessed 7 January 2018].