Contact and Community: The Role of Social Interactions for a Political Identity
Year: 2015
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Can social interactions generate a sense of community that transcends national borders? This question was initially raised by Deutsch (1953) and revived by Fligstein (2008). Recent evidence on the role of social interactions for a collective European identity based on cross sectional data suffers from endogeneity problems. Previous studies based on longitudinal data present surprisingly inconclusive results. I contribute to this literature in two ways. First, I apply insights from social psychology to specify the microfoundations of why contact across group boundaries is likely to contribute to a collective identity. Second, I use a new three-wave panel data set to probe causal effects. I surveyed almost 1500 students at 38 universities before they left their home institution to study one or two terms in another European country, shortly after they returned, and a third time after a time lag of five months. The panel study design with control group allows establishing causal effects more reliably than research based on a probability sample surveyed at a single time point because the effect of social interactions can be observed within individuals and over time. The results show that transnational social interactions contribute to a collective identity. Using data on students’ interactions with other international students while abroad, I further analyze the underlying causal process. My findings suggest that it is contact with other international students that fosters a collective European identity, while interactions with hosts do not have a similar effect. The panel data also reveals that transnational social interactions have a more profound impact on individuals with a weak European identity to begin with. Finally, the analysis provides suggestive evidence for contact to generate a stable recalibration of political identities that is stable after students’ return.
Source: Political Psychology
DOI: 10.1111/pops.12295
Author: Florian Stoeckel
Institution: European University Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1902683671