National identity in younger Italians in Central Italy before and during the Covid-19 pandemic: a pilot study

ABSTRACT

Social cohesion, associated with lower levels of psychological distress, is a predictor of recovery in emergency situations that may be enhanced by social identities such as national identity. We examined changes in opinions regarding closeness to the nation, patriotism, nationalism, immigration, and opinions about the European Union by administering the National Identity Questionnaire to younger Italian adults living in Central Italy six months before and two months after the initial Covid-19 lockdown to discriminate specific aspects of National identity that may aid adaptation to stressors. Results showed that patriotism increased compared to nationalism while feelings toward European Union membership decreased.

KEYWORDS:

• National identity
• social cohesion
• Covid-19
• collective memory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Materials and data will be publicly shared on request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nadia Conte

Nadia Conte is a Psychologist and a Ph.D. student in Earthquake and Environmental Hazards in the Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences at the University of Chieti, Italy. Her principal research interests are focused on memory processes, working memory, collective and collaborative memory.

Caterina Padulo

Caterina Padulo is a Psychologist with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. She is currently a post-doc at Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences at the University of Chieti, Italy. Her areas of interest and specialization include the study of cognitive processes and the modulation role of emotions in physiological ageing, and the affective evaluation of food as well as the impact of affective stimuli on food preferences.

Alessia Marini

Alessia Marini is a Psychologist with a Ph.D. in Earthquake and Environmental Hazards in the Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences at the University of Chieti, Italy. She is a contract professor in the same Department, where she teaches EPG of General Psychology 2. Her principal research interests are focused on aging, memory, heuristics and decision-making in emergency situations.

Michela Balsamo

Michela Balsamo is an Associate Professor of Psychometrics in the Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences at the University of Chieti, Italy. Her research interests are in measurement of clinical variables, such as depression, anxiety, co-rumination, using new psychometric theory (Item Response Theory). She is a member of the Italian Society for the Experimental Psychology (AIP) and Society for Personality Assessment. She is author of numerous articles and books and served as guest Editor of several international journals.

Leonardo Carlucci

Leonardo Carlucci is Assistant Professor in Psychometrics at University of Foggia, and a CBT psychotherapist. He conducted his doctoral research on cognitive and psychometric aspects of rigid cognitive beliefs at the University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy. He has an extensive background in the areas of assessment of individual differences and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. His main research interest has been on psychometrics modelling applied to behavioural and cognitive data; in developing and validating psychometrics scales using classic (eg. CTT) and modern psychometric (eg. IRT) models.

Beth Fairfield

Beth Fairfield is a Psychologist with a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Full Professor at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, where she teaches General Psychology, Psychology and Memory. She leads lab research on memory and memory and aging. Her principal research interests are focused on memory processes and on working memory in healthy and older adults. She is also interested in emotion-cognition interactions in older adults and how these interactions are modulated by individual differences.