Premium
The pandemic and the question of national belonging: Exposure to covid‐19 threat and conceptions of nationhood
Author(s) -
WAMSLER STEFFEN,
FREITAG MARKUS,
ERHARDT JULIAN,
FILSINGER MAXIMILIAN
Publication year - 2023
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6765.12515
Subject(s) - pandemic , feeling , ethnic group , anger , covid-19 , perception , politics , social psychology , psychology , sociology , political science , medicine , disease , pathology , neuroscience , anthropology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
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.