Effects of language priming on national and European identification: A cross-national comparison

• Autor(a) principal: Schick, Kira Marcia
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/20719
• topic: National identity; European identity; Priming; National language; Second language; Identidade nacional; Identidade europeia; Língua nacional; Segunda língua; Psicologia social; Linguística; Língua portuguesa; Língua alemã; Comunidade europeia -- European community

The present study examined whether language might serve as a prime of social identity across two different samples (German and Portuguese). The main hypotheses advanced were that priming with the national language (Portuguese or German) increases identification with the nation while priming with a second language (i.e., English) increases identification with Europe. Further, Portuguese participants were expected to score higher in national identification than German participants, while no differences were expected in european identification. In a 2x2 factorial design, German (n = 100) and Portuguese (n = 100) participants were randomly assigned to the online questionnaire in either their national language or English. National and european identity were assessed using Leach et al. (2008) Ingroup Identification Scale, assessing self-investment and self-definition dimensions. Social identity complexity, inclusion of other in self and a stereotype scale were also measured in the randomized language. Results support the hypotheses regarding cross-national differences in national and similarities in european identification. Hypotheses regarding language priming effects were overall not supported. However, there was a significant interaction of nationality and language for Self- Investment with Europe, with German participants showing higher scores when responding in English than in German. Further, on Self-Definition with Europe, Portuguese participants scored higher when responding in Portuguese than in English. Consequences and implications for further research and applications are discussed.