European and National Identity of Modern Europeans: Cross-Country Analysis

The research is dedicated to the study of relationship between European and national identities among modern Europeans, as well as the impact of such factors as the membership in the EU, GDP, attitudes towards European integration and attitudes towards immigrants on identities. European identity is considered in the framework of neo-functionalism and “imagined communities” theories, which suggest that identity is artificially constructed as part of integration processes. The study os the identities of modern Europeans is important cause it helps to understand the causes of certain social processes in European countries better, as well as to determine the prospects for the further development of European society, nation states and the EU. For analysis, I used the data of the 8th and 9th ESS waves, which were collected in 2016 and 2018. The surveys were attended by residents of 25 countries of Europe older than 15. The main method of analysis, was single-level and multi-level structural equations modeling. The study showed that in countries outside the European Union the feeling of belonging to Europe is lower than in EU member countries. On an individual level, attitudes towards immigrants and attitudes towards European integration are positively associated with European identity. Moreover, European and national identities are positively related to each other both on the individual and country levels. The results of the study refuted the hypothesis that the country's economic development has a positive effect on European identity. The model showed that this effect is not significant. There are several limitations of the research: combination of databases of 2016 and 2018; inclusion in the sample of only 25 European countries that participated in ESS surveys; difficulties in the operationalization of basic concepts due to the limited questions of ESS.