Irish Students' Stereotypes About Some National and Subnational Groups Within Ireland and Great Britain

Abstract

A sample of Irish undergraduates was asked to characterize the English, Irish, Welsh, Scots, Northern Irish Catholics, Northern Irish Protestants, Southern Irish Catholics, and Southern Irish Protestants using both a check list and a free response format. Analyses of the social and personal stereotypes indicated that the English were described in different and significantly less favorable terms than the Irish. The enmities and strife in Northern Ireland were reflected in the stereotypes about the subnational Irish groups. While Catholics and Protestants, on both sides of the political border, were seen to be different from each other, these differences were overshadowed by the distinctions between the Northern and Southern groups. Both of the Northern irish targets were characterized in much less favorable and much less differentiated terms than their Southern counterparts. The implications of these findings were discussed.