1. Social identity inclusiveness in the context of Western Balkans
Masha Pavlovic PhD student at University of Belgrade, Serbia
January 2016, University of Saarland, Saarbrucken

2. When I introduced myself…
Serbian citizen
Maša Pavlović
PSYCHOLOGIST
WOMAN
PhD Student
friendly person
good colleague

3. When I introduced myself…
SOCIAL IDENTITY
WOMAN
PhD Student
Serbian citizen
PSYCHOLOGIST
Serbian ethnicity
ATHEIST
Serbian citizen
Maša Pavlović
PSYCHOLOGIST
WOMAN
PhD Student
good colleague
friendly person
friendly person
good colleague
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

4. Social identity (SI)
Social Identity: portion of an individual’s self concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group (Tajfel & Turner, 1986)
Social identities have consequences for individuals’ evaluations, feelings and actions toward others, favouring others that are perceived as belonging to their own ingroup (e.g., Tajfel & Turner, 1979; Terry, Hogg & White, 2000).

5. Measurement of SI
Measuring the degree of importance or commitment to a given social group in isolation from other identity groups (e.g. Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje, 2002)
Please, rate the extent to which belonging to different social groups is important to you personally…
Ethnical group………………………………………..1…2…3…4….5
Religious group………………………………………1…2…3…4….5 ….
Single in-group / out-group categorization
Neglects the multitude of social identities and complexity with which two or more social identities may interact

6. Measurement of SI: New perspectives
Constellation of person’s diverse identities
How different identities relate, rather than identities per se, might be more relevant for intergroup relations and biases
Until recently, social identities and intergroup relations were studied exclusively in the context of a single in-group - out-group categorization.
In the last several years more attention was drawn to investigating the constellation of person’s diverse identities, with the idea that how different identities relate, rather than identities per se, might be more relevant for intergroup relations and biases.

7. Measurement of SI: New perspectives
Muslim
German citizens
Turkish ethnicity
German citizens
Muslim
Turkish ethnicity
Cross-cutting group membership vs single in-group / out-group categorization
Is this complexity reflected in individuals’ perceptions and how?

8. Social identity inclusiveness (SII, Van Dommelen et al., 2015)
Muslims
German citizens
Turkish
Muslims
German citizens
Turkish
Turkish
German citizens
Muslims
How exclusively or inclusively one defines the in-group from the combination of multiple cross-cutting categories
How one makes a subjective boundary between ingroup and outgroup

9. Social identity inclusiveness
SII varies on a continuum from a very restricted to a highly inclusive social self
ALL BEINGS?
All German citizens regardless of their ethnicity and religion
ALL HUMAN BEINGS
German citizens of German ethnicity and catholic religion and males…
A person with a highly inclusive identity will consider almost all other people as their in-groups (will mark them as “US”) regardless of their religion, ethnicity or nationality. On the other hand, a person who has low inclusiveness of their identity might consider only people of the same religion, nationality and ethnicity as their in-groupers (mark them as “THEM”).

10. Social identity inclusiveness
Different construct from the strength of identification with different social groups as single categories (Van Dommelen et al., 2015)
Positively related to attitudes towards a range of outgroups (Van Dommelen et al., 2015)
Positively related to quality and quantity of contact with outgroups (Van Dommelen et al., 2015)
Research evidence is scarce.
Research so far conducted on minority members only

11. ABOUT THE PROJECT

12. About the project
Project title: From Inclusive Identities to Inclusive Societies: Exploring Complex Social Identity in the Western Balkans Project mentor: Dr. Felicia Pratto Implementing institutions: 1. Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade (leading institution) 2. Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje 3. Faculty of Philosophy, Banja Luka 4. Sarajevo School of Science and Technology 5. Individual researchers from Macedonia and Kosovo Project duration: 18 months Supported by: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Regional Research Promotion Program (RRPP) Western Balkans, Freiburg University

13. About the project: PROJECT GOALS
To explore the complexity and inclusiveness of social identity among youth in Western Balkans.
To explore relationships between social identity complexity and inclusiveness and a number of socially relevant attitudes and behaviors (attitudes towards out-groups, political attitudes, civic activism etc.).
To define contexts that foster complex and inclusive social identities.
Multiple identification – beneficial for integroup relations

14. Today’s presentation
Social identity inclusiveness (SII) among minorities and majorities
Relation between SII and following constructs:
single identifications with different social groups
quality and quantity of intergroup contact
outgroup attitudes
Ability of SII to predict outgroup attitudes beyond single identifications and contact measures
Multiple identification – beneficial for integroup relations

15. The research context

16. The research context: Western Balkans
The context: Western Balkans as a region of deep ethnic and religious divisions and a recent history of violent conflict, The violent breakdown of ex-Yugoslavia in the nineties resulted in the formation of new, ethnically more homogeneous countries. The ethnic minorities in these newly formed countries are granted
special rights or even recognized in special constitutional acts, but their relationship with the country they live in remains burdened by the tensions of the past.

17. The research context: Western Balkans
Bosniaks (Muslims), app. 40%
Serbs (Orthodox), app 36%
Serbs (Orthodox), app 83%
Bosniaks (Muslims), app 2%
Albanians (Muslims), app 95%
Serbs (Orthodox), app 4%
Macedonians (Orthodox), app 64%
Albanians (Muslims), app 25%

18. The research context: Western Balkans
Long and relatively recent history of interethnic conflicts
Still prevalent and deep ethnic and religious divisions
Minority groups are not well integrated and deprived of access to resources
Ethnic divisions and segregation still in the everyday life
Ethnic and religious identification closely intertwined

19. Methodology

20. Methodology
Sample size & structure: 816 participants of different educational level, aged between 20 and 30 (M=23.8 SD=3.1), 50.4% females,

21. Methodology
Procedure: electronic testing in controlled conditions (Qualtrics)
Master questionnaire developed in English, translated to local languages

22. Methodology Measures: Social identity inclusiveness
Triple card sorting task
Strength of identification with different social groups as single categories
Outgroup contact
Frequency of contact
Quantity of contact
Outgroup attitudes
Feeling thermometers
Social distance

23. 1. Social identity inclusiveness
Triple categorization task: categorization into “US” or “THEM”
Stimuli varied by: ethnicity, nationality and religious affiliation
24 combinations
Triple in-groupers
Double in-groupers
Single in-groupers
Triple out-groupers

24. Stimuli from the triple categorization task
Triple INGROUPER
(Participant’s nationality, ethnicity & religion are the same)
Citizen of Serbia
Serbian ethnicity
Christian Orthodox
Milica Popovic US
THEM
Stimuli from the triple categorization task

25. Stimuli from the triple categorization task
Double INGROUPER
(two of participant’s identities are the same – one changes)
Citizen of Serbia
Serbian ethnicity
Muslim
Lejla Kovacevic US
THEM
Stimuli from the triple categorization task

26. Stimuli from the triple categorization task
Single INGROUPER
(one of participant’s identities is the same – two differ)
Citizen of Serbia
Bosniak ethnicity
Muslim
Aida Spahić US
THEM
Stimuli from the triple categorization task

27. Stimuli from the triple categorization task
Triple OUTGROUPER
(all three identities are not those of the participant)
Citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosniak
Muslim
Ajsa Halilovic US
THEM
Stimuli from the triple categorization task

28. 1. Social identity inclusiveness
Structure of the task: 6 2
Gender of the person presented on a card was matched with a participant’s gender
Measure: the number of persons categorized as US

29. 2. Strength of social identifications
Strength of identification with different social groups as single categories: Personal importance of different social groups, rated on 5 point scales: ethnicity, religion, country, city/town where I come from, Balkans, Europe

30. 3. Outgroup contact Frequency of contact with the outgroups
Frequency of participant’s exposure to out-group members in three different settings (university, neighbourhood, free time). The scale ranged from 0 (never) to 5 (very often).
Quality of contact with the outgroups (only those who
reported contact)
Four emotions: two positive (pleasant, respected) and two negative (nervous, looked down upon) . The scale ranged from 0 (Not at all) to 5 (Very much).

31. 4. Outgroup attitudes
Feelings towards social groups Feeling thermometer – participants indicated the warmth of their feelings towards out-groups (religious and ethnical ), using the scale from 0 to 100 degrees:

32. 4. Outgroup attitudes
Social distance toward outgropus: Participants indicate how willing are they to engage in different relationships with typical members of different outgroups.
Muslim
Orthodox Christian
Serb
Bosniak
Albanian
Macedonian
I wouldn’t mind living in the same neighbourhood with ...
I wouldn’t mind working or going to university with ...
I wouldn’t mind having a close friend who is a ...
I wouldn’t mind marrying or dating a ...

33. Results and discussion

34. Social identity inclusiveness
p <.001
t(213)= 0.6, p =ns.
t(210)=1.7,
p =.09
t(213)= -2.5,
p =.01
The minority members from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina show less inclusive identities than respective majority members. In other words, although they are more aware of social diversities, they are less willing to include members of other groups with some shared identities in their own group. This might come as a result of the recent history of conflicts between Bosniaks and Serbs and the minorities perceiving assimilation threat. The minority might therefore be more likely to struggle to maintain their identity by excluding others who do not share their ethnicity and religion. However, in Kosovo the majority demonstrates less inclusive identity than minority. In other words, young Albanians are less willing to accept others who do not share all of their identities as their in-groupers. This might be due to efforts of Albanian majority living in Kosovo region to gain independence from Serbia and establish new country of Kosovo and new respective identity. Again, excluding others who do not share all of their identities might be seen as a way of confirming and reinforcing the borders of their own group. In addition, Serbs from Kosovo perceive both Serbia and Kosovo (still seen as Serbian province) as their in-countries, which results in more inclusiveness. In Macedonia, where the proportion of majority and minority members is more balanced, we did not register differences with regard to inclusiveness between them.

35. Strength of social identifications
Ethnic and religious identifications are generally stronger than alternative identifications (local, Balkans or European) in all the countries in the region (Figure 1).
Ethnic majorities in all countries demonstrate surprisingly similar pattern of identifications with different groups – their countries seem to be the most important frame of their social identifications; ethnic minorities are similar with regard to their lower identification with the country they live in, with the exception of Serbs from Kosovo, probably due to its unresolved status. Young Albanians from Kosovo and Macedonia and young Serbs from Kosovo are most strongly attached to their ethnic and religious groups (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Strength of different identifications by country and majority/minority status
(1 = of no importance; 5 = highly important)

36. Strength of social identifications
Majorities identify more strongly with the country than with ethnicity and religion, while minorities identify more strongly with ethnicity and religion, rather than with the country (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Strength of identification with ethnicity, religion and nationality, by majority/minority status
(1 = of no importance; 5 = highly important)

37. Contact with the outgroups
Average frequency of contact is relatively low; in countries where minorities are significantly outnumbered (Serbia, Kosovo) it is higher for the minority group, whilst in the countries with numerous minorities (Macedonia, BIH) there is no asymmetry – majorities are exposed to minorities as much as vice versa (Figure 7). Quality of contact, when it occurs – is relatively high (the average ranges from three to four on a five point scale). In contrast, it is lower for the groups in regions with more unresolved political issues (Kosovo and Macedonia), and with groups with language barriers (Albanians and Serbs; Albanians and Macedonians) (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Frequency and quality of contact with ethnic out-groups by country and ethnicity
(0= lack of contact/non positive experience; 5 = high frequency of contact/positive experience)

38. Social distance and feelings towards outgroups
The overall picture shows that general feelings toward ethnic and religious outgroups of both minority and majority members are relatively indifferent or cold, while the social distance is moderate (Figure 5). Minorities, due to the fact that they feel more threatened, have less positive and inclusive attitudes toward ethnic and religious out-groups.
These differences are more pronounced in the attitudes towards religious than for the ethnic out-groups (Figure 5). By countries, the differences in the attitudes between the majority and minority are the largest in Macedonia, while they are least pronounced in Kosovo, due to the fact that both Albanian majority and Serbian minority have large social distance and negative feelings (Figure 6).
Figure 5: Social distance and feelings towards ethnic and religious outgroups, by majority/minority status
(1 = low distance; 5 = high distance; 0 – extremely cold feelings; 100 = extremely warm feelings)

39. Social distance toward outgroups
These differences are more pronounced in the attitudes towards religious than for the ethnic out-groups (Figure 5). By countries, the differences in the attitudes between the majority and minority are the largest in Macedonia, while they are least pronounced in Kosovo, due to the fact that both Albanian majority and Serbian minority have large social distance and negative feelings (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Social distance towards ethnic and religious outgroups, by country and ethnicity
(1 = low distance; 5 = high distance)

40. Feelings towards the outgroups
These differences are more pronounced in the attitudes towards religious than for the ethnic out-groups (Figure 5). By countries, the differences in the attitudes between the majority and minority are the largest in Macedonia, while they are least pronounced in Kosovo, due to the fact that both Albanian majority and Serbian minority have large social distance and negative feelings (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Feelings towards ethnic and religious outgroups, by country and ethnicity
(0 – extremely cold feelings; 100 = extremely warm feelings)

41. Relation between SII and other constructs
Social identity inclusiveness
Minority
Majority
Overall
Strenght of identifications
Ethnicity
-.215**
-.339**
-.277**
Religion
-.155**
-.311**
-.235**
Country of residence
.003
-.272**
-.123**
Contact
Frequency of contact
.065
.161**
.112**
Quality of contact
.121*
.365**
.242**
Social distance
Ethnic outgroup
-.186**
-.416**
-.305**
Religious outgroup
.011
-.396**
-.180**
Feeling thermometer
.217**
.350**
.285**
.226**
.301**
.266**
Negative relationship between strength of single identifications and levels of inclusiveness
Positive relationship between frequency and quality of contact and inclusiveness; quality of contact more important for inclusiveness
Negative relationship between social distance and inclusiveness, more pronounced for majority members
Positive relationship between feelings toward outgroups and inclusiveness

42. Prediction of outgroup attitudes: Hierarchical regression
Social distance
Feeling thermometer β EO RO
Ethnicity
0.10*
0.00
-0.16**
-0.15**
Religious group
0.06
0.12*
-0.03
-0.13**
Country
0.04
-0.01
0.12**
0.17**
ΔR²
.17
.08
.14
.15 ΔF
46.2**
19.0**
35.1**
38.9**
Frequency of cont.
-0.27**
-0.26**
0.25**
0.28**
Quality of contact
-0.35**
-0.24**
0.30**
0.14**
.24
.19
.12
138.2**
64.1**
94.9**
53.0**
SII
-0.14**
-0.05
0.15**
.02
.002
22.0**
1.7
18.6**
17.7**
If the results differ for majorities/minorities – NO, except in case of SD toward RO, where minorities show the same trend as in overall sample while in the case of majorities SII has significant, albeit small contribution

43. Conclusions
SII appears as a valid construct for measuring multiple social identities
Level of SII varies as an individual difference variable, but also depends on social context (minority/majority, different countries)
SII is negatively related to one’s ties with ethnic and religious identity and positively related to contact (especially quality of contact)
SII is a unique predictor of outgroup attitudes
SII’s incremental predictive power is small
Multiple identities perspective as a useful tool for conceptualizing minority/majority perspectives

44. What next? Investigating ways to foster more inclusive identities
Understanding the subjective content of crosscutting social identities
egalitarian
intersection
dominance
How to make identities more inclusive?
Imposing a superordinate national identity did not seem to work
Identification with superordinate European identity modest
Even less so for Balkan identity
Emphasizing permeability of group boundaries?
Situational triggers for it?
Conflicting national identity: Kosovar for Serbs, Bosnian for Serbs, Macedonian citizen for Albanians, Serbian citizen for Bosniaks
Why? Ethnic minority does not perceive it to be representative of their ethnic identity
Investigating other cross-cutting group memberships, e.g. between ethnicity and social class or professional and generational groups, and their possible effects on inter-group perceptions and emotions

45. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
For further information, please visit:
Social Identities Western Balkans