1. Who’s In and Who’s Out: NationalIdentity and the Setting of National Boundaries.
- Author
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Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth
- Subjects
- *
NATIONAL character , *SOCIAL psychology , *POLITICAL philosophy , *NATIONALISM - Abstract
When people think of an ingroup to which they belong, they tend to think of the prototypical member of the group. And people tend to think of themselves as prototypical members. What this means is that people tend to think of ingroup members as ?people like me.? This process of establishing ingroup boundaries, boundaries that place the person firmly within the group, is an important one, especially when considering national groups. By establishing national group boundaries, Americans include some people, marginalize others, and fully exclude still others. Those who are marginalized or excluded are objectively members of the ingroup (i.e., the American people) lose out on the benefits of being an ingroup member. This paper explores the issue of establishing boundaries and national identity by drawing heavily on political theory and social psychology. I find that national identity is significantly related to feeling an obligation toward fellow Americans, that national identity is strongly related to setting exclusionary boundaries for the national group, and that for those who strongly identify with the American people, those who are excluded are denied the benefits of being part of the national group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004
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