Abstract
The EU is facing unprecedented challenges and significant threats to its economic and political security. Austerity, the Eurozone crisis, rising immigration and heightened fear of terrorism all present serious challenges to the process of integration. How does this context of insecurity impact on what the EU means to its citizens? Will the public become increasingly Eurosceptic or will they discover a hitherto unrecognised attachment to the EU as the prospect of its collapse becomes real? Psychological research has demonstrated that individual exposure to threat decreases cognitive capacity, inducing a tendency towards rigidity or conservatism – a tendency to cling to the ‘devil you know’. So what might this mean for the European integration process? Using experimental techniques drawn from political psychology, the authors find a dual threat effect. The EU symbol has a negative (anti-EU) effect on EU-related attitudes when presented in neutral context. This is consonant with conceptualisations of the EU as a threat to national cultural and political norms. In contrast, however, visual priming of participants with EU symbols has a positive (pro-EU) effect on related attitudes when symbols are presented in a context that implies a subtle but imminent threat to the benefits of EU membership.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, C.J. (1998) When in doubt use proxies: Attitudes to domestic politics and support for the EU. Comparative Political Studies 31(5): 569–601.
Billig, M. (1995) Banal Nationalism. London: Sage.
Blalock, H. (1967) Toward a Theory of Minority-group Relations. New York: Wiley.
Bloom, W. (1990) Personal Identity, National Identity and International Relations. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Bruter, M. (2003) Winning hearts and minds for Europe: The impact of news and symbols on civic and cultural European identity. Comparative Political Studies 36(10): 1148–1179.
Bruter, M. (2009) Time bomb? The dynamic effect of news and symbols on political identity of European citizens. Comparative Political Studies 42(12): 1498–1536.
Butz, D.A., Plant, E.A. and Doerr, C.E. (2007) Liberty and justice for all? Implications of exposure to the U.S. flag for intergroup relations. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 33(3): 396–408.
Butz, D.A. (2009) National symbols as agents of psychological and social change. Political Psychology 30(5): 779–804.
Campbell, D.E. (2006) Religious ‘threat’ in contemporary presidential elections. Journal of Politics 68(1): 104–115.
Carter, T.J., Ferguson, M.J. and Hassin, R.R. (2011) A single exposure to the American flag shifts support towards republicanism up to 8 months later. Psychological Science 22(8): 1011–1018.
Castiglione, D. (2009) Political identity in a community of strangers. In: J.T. Checkel and P.J. Katzenstein (eds.) European Identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 29–51.
Cram, L. (2001) Imagining the union: A case of banal Europeanism? In: H. Wallace (ed.) Interlocking Dimensions of European Integration. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 231–246.
Cram, L. (2012) Does the EU need a navel ? Implicit and explicit identification with the European Union. Journal of Common Market Studies 50(1): 71–86.
Cram, L. and Patrikios, S. (forthcoming) Visual primes and EU identity: Designing experimental research. In: K. Lynggaard, K. Löfgren and I. Manners (eds.) Research Methods in European Union Studies. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Deutsch, K. et al (1957) Political Community and the North Atlantic Area. New York: Greenwood.
Diez Medrano, J. (2008) Europeanization and the Emergence of a European Society. IBEI Working Papers, 12, pp. 1–21.
Ehrlinger, J. et al (2011) How exposure to the confederate flag affects willingness to vote for Barack Obama. Political Psychology 32(1): 131–146.
Ferguson, M.J. and Hassin, R.R. (2007) On the automatic association between America and aggression for news watchers. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 33(12): 1632–1647.
Gabel, M.J. (1998) Public support for European integration: An empirical test of five theories. Journal of Politics 60(2): 333–354.
Gilboa, A. and Bodner, E. (2009) What are your thoughts when the national anthem is playing? An empirical exploration. Psychology of Music 37(4): 459–484.
Hassin, R.R., Ferguson, M.J., Kardosh, R., Porter, S.C., Carter, T.J. and Dudareva, V. (2009) Précis of implicit nationalism. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1167: 135–145.
Hassin, R.R., Ferguson, M.J., Shidlovski, D. and Gross, T. (2007) Subliminal exposure to national flags affects political thought and behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104 (50), pp. 19757–19761.
Hooghe, L. and Marks, G. (2004) Does identity or economic rationality drive public opinion on European integration? Political Science and Politics 37(3): 415–420.
Hooghe, L. and Marks, G. (2005) Calculation, community and cues: Public opinion on European integration. European Union Politics 6(4): 419–444.
Hooghe, L. and Marks, G. (2008) A postfunctional theory of European integration: From permissive consensus to constraining dissensus. British Journal of Political Science 39(1): 1–23.
Jost, J.T., Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A.W. and Sulloway, F.J. (2003) Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin 129(3): 339–75.
Kemmelmeier, M. and Winter, D. (2008) Sowing patriotism, but reaping nationalism? Consequences of exposure to the American flag. Political Psychology 29(6): 859–879.
Key, V.O. (1943) Southern Politics in State and Nation. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.
Lavine, H., Lodge, M. and Freitas, K. (2005) Threat, authoritarianism, and selective exposure. Political Psychology 26(2): 219–244.
Lubbers, M. (2008) Regarding the Dutch ‘Nee’ to the European constitution: A test of the identity, utilitarian and political approaches to voting ‘no'. European Union Politics 9(1): 59–86.
Lubbers, Marcel and Scheepers, P. (2005) Political versus instrumental euro-scepticism: Mapping scepticism in European countries and regions. European Union Politics 6(2): 223–242.
Manners, I. (2011) Symbolism in European integration. Comparative European Politics 9(3): 243–268.
Mclaren, L.M. (2002) Public support for the European Union: Cost/benefit analysis or perceived cultural threat? The Journal of Politics 64(02): 551–566.
Mclaren, L.M. (2006) Identity, Interests and Attitudes to European Integration. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
McNamara, K.R. (2010) Constructing authority in the European Union. In: D.D. Avant, M. Finnemore and S.K. Sell (eds.) Who Governs the Globe?. Cambridge, US: Cambridge University Press, pp. 153–182.
Mols, F. and Haslam, S.A. (2008) Understanding EU attitudes in multi-level governance contexts: A social identity perspective. West European Politics 31(3): 442–463.
Pantoja, A.D. and Segura, G.M. (2012) Fear in California : And loathing contextual threat and political sophistication among Latino voters. Political Behaviour 25(3): 265–186.
Priban, J. (2009) The juridification of European identity, its limitations and the search of EU democratic politics. Constellations 16(1): 44–58.
Risse, T. (2010) A Community of Europeans? Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Sanchez-Cuenca, I. (2000) The political basis for support for European integration. European Union Politics 1(2): 147–172.
Sherif, M., Harvey, B., White, J., Hood, W.R. and Sherif, C.W. (1961) lntergroup Cooperation and Competition: The Robbers Cave Experiment. Norman, OK: University Book Exchange.
Sherif, M. and Sherif, C.W. (1953) Groups in Harmony and Tension: An Introduction to Studies in lntergroup Relations. New York: Harper and Row.
Smith, A. (1995) Nations and Nationalism in a Global Era. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Staw, B.M., Sandelands, L.E. and Dutton, J.E. (2007) Threat rigidity effects in organizational behaviour: A multilevel analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly 26(4): 501–524.
Tajfel, H. and Turner, J.C. (1979) An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In: W.G. Austin and S. Worchel (eds.) The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole, pp. 33–47.
Thórisdóttir, H. and Jost, J.T. (2011) Closed mindedness mediates the effects of threat on political conservatism. Political Psychology 32(5): 785–811.
Trenz, H.-J. (2004) Media coverage on European governance. Testing the performance of national newspapers. European Journal of Communication 19(3): 291–319.
Trenz, H.-J. (2006) ‘Banaler Europäismus’: eine latente Kategorie der Europäisierung politischer Kommunikation. In: W.R. Langenbucher and M. Latzer (eds.) Europäische Öffentlichkeit und medialer Wandel: eine transdisziplinäre Perspektive. Wiesbaden, Germany: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 192–213.
Turner, J.C., Hogg, M.A., Oakes, P.J., Reicher, S.D. and Wetherell, M.S. (1987) Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-categorization Theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Appendix
Appendix
Experimental procedure and materials
Four versions of a printed questionnaire were placed face-down in four separate sections of the lecture theatre. Each section corresponded to a different version of the short questionnaire, specifically to a different cover page. Each section of the lecture theatre was separated from the adjacent section either by a corridor (vertically) or by a number of empty rows (horizontally). Upon arrival to the lecture theatre, students were randomly assigned by the research team to one of the four sections. The study was conducted at the beginning of class and was introduced as part of a departmental research project. Participants were not informed about the experimental nature of the study. They were first asked only to read the cover page very carefully. They were then asked to complete the short questionnaire that appeared overleaf. The cover page had ‘landscape’ orientation. The survey questions that appeared overleaf were in ‘portrait’ orientation. The cover page contained a high quality photographic image (7.5 cm × 10 cm, in colour), a title in large capitalised font, and an excerpt from a mock newspaper report. These were accompanied by brief instructions (including ‘Please read the report’). The capitalised title of the survey read ‘Social Trends Survey 2011’. The excerpt made no reference to the EU. The four versions of the cover page (two versions of the image by two versions of the excerpt) were as given in Figures A1 – A4.
Control cue under a neutral frame.
EU cue under a neutral frame.
Control cue under a threatening frame.
EU cue under a threatening frame.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Patrikios, S., Cram, L. Better the devil you know: Threat effects and attachment to the European Union. Comp Eur Polit 14, 717–734 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2014.54
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2014.54