National and European Identity Formation: A Longitudinal Cross-National Comparison Study

ABSTRACT

This study examined social identity development on the national and European domain using the three-dimensional identity status model. We took a person-centered approach to identify identity statuses and to study stability and change of identity statuses across one year within two longitudinal samples of young people aged 15 to 26 (M_T1 = 19.81, SD_T1 = 3.22) from Germany (n = 1028) and Czech Republic (n = 1342). Latent profile analyses of questionnaire-based data showed evidence for four identity statuses for the national and European domain (i.e., diffusion, moratorium, closure, and achievement). The statuses differed substantially in terms of civic engagement, nationalism, and views toward the EU. Stability of identity statuses was moderate to high across domains and countries with little evidence for systematic transitions over time. Overall, identity patterns were very similar across domains and countries. However, congruence between the national and the European identity domain was substantially lower in Czech Republic than in Germany, suggesting that both identities are more aligned in the latter country.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity formation
• national identity
• European identity
• latent profile analysis
• latent transition analysis

Disclosure statement

The authors reported no potential conflict of interest.

Supplementary material

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Notes

1. These countries were Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, United Kingdom, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden.

2. Including more countries in the analyses would have been possible but given the complexity of the analyses (two identity domains by two time points across two countries), we decided to include only these two countries.

Additional information

Funding

This study was produced as a part of the CATCH-EyoU project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under [G.A. no. 649538]. The study reflects only the authors’ view. The Research Executive Agency of the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.