Favouring a disunited Kingdom? How negative perceptions of the EU-referendum relate to individual mobility and collective action considerations

Lara Ditrich,Edit Z Gedeon,Kai Sassenberg

doi:10.5964/jspp.5547

Abstract

One consequence of the EU-referendum’s pro-Brexit outcome was a renewed call for Scottish independence. Supporting this call can be construed as a form of collective action Scots may engage in. However, Scots may also consider individual mobility strategies including - in extreme cases - emigration. The current research investigated how identity-dynamics relate to these identity management strategies in post-referendum Scotland. We found a positive association between perceiving the EU-referendum as having violated expectations and considering individual mobility responses, mediated by identity subversion (i.e., the perception that the referendum results fundamentally changed the UK’s identity). Furthermore, we found that perceiving the EU-referendum as having violated expectations was related to higher collective action intentions, mediated by disidentification from UK citizens. Taken together, these findings underscore the pervasive role social identity processes play in shaping political decisions and individual behaviour.

Highlights

In the referendum in June 2016, the citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) had the possibility to decide whether their country should remain in or leave the European Union (EU)
We found that perceiving the EU-referendum as having violated expectations was related to higher collective action intentions, mediated by disidentification from UK citizens
We conducted a power analysis using a Monte Carlo simulation with 500 replications, treating estimates obtained in the main analysis as a proxy for the population parameters. This analysis suggests that the present study had over 99.9% power to detect an effect of β = 0.37 and had 99.6% power to detect an effect of β = 0.19

Summary

Introduction

In the referendum in June 2016, the citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) had the possibility to decide whether their country should remain in or leave the European Union (EU). 51.9% voted to leave the EU, but the referendum outcome differed markedly between the constituent countries within the UK. One consequence of the EU-referendum’s outcome was a renewed call for Scottish independence. A second consequence was a marked increase in the number of people who emigrated from the UK to, or were granted citizenship in, another country within the EU. Supporting a second referendum for Scottish independence is an action that aims at changing the position of a group as a whole (i.e., reflects collective action). Emigrating from the UK, in turn, represents an individual response that only changes one’s own situation (i.e., reflects individual mobility).

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Results

Conclusion