Ideological Identity Research Articles

Ideological identity: worldviews and values are self-defining

ABSTRACT This research investigated whether ideological attitudes (beliefs about religion, social justice) are central to the self-concept. Participants rated ideological attitudes as more self-defining than relevant attitudes (about family, hometown), even though were liked equally (Study 1). Ideological attitudes were as self-defining as attitudes that were personally meaningful, even though the latter were liked more and more psychologically valuable (Study 2). In Study 3, participants reported that if they changed their ideological attitudes or their moral traits (honesty, generosity), they would see themselves as a different person more than if they changed their attitudes about relevant attitudes and their perceptual abilities (hearing, pain tolerance). These studies underscore the important role of ideological attitudes to the self-concept.

Sea turtles stranded ashore: Sociocultural dissonance and identity conflicts in migration intentions of Chinese international student returnees

In the post-COVID-19 era, Chinese international student returnees are facing greater identity conflicts during their reintegration. Understanding their sociocultural and ideological identity negotiation will better accommodate their needs and facilitate their integration into society. This study explored identity conflicts experienced by Chinese student returnees across ecological systems after reentry to China during COVID-19. A qualitative approach was used with 20 returnees. The key findings of this study reveal multi-layered conflicts stemming from the discordance between traditional Eastern values and newly acquired Western perspectives across meso-to-macro systems. In addition, important factors corresponding to returnees’ social capital were identified during the acculturation. Coping mechanisms and migration intentions were observed to vary distinctly among the identified identity clusters. Individuals with a "homestayer" identity, characterized by a deep commitment to integrating with the Chinese community and a higher level of perceived social capital in China, predominantly employed positive coping strategies, such as behavioral adaptation. This group exhibited a strong inclination to remain in China. Conversely, those with a "wayfarer" identity, who experienced deeper immersion in foreign cultures and displayed critical views towards Chinese society with a perceived low social capital in China, tended to adopt negative coping strategies like social withdrawal, correlating with a pronounced intention to migrate. Finally, "navigators", who skillfully balance their native Chinese and foreign cultural identities and effectively manage transnational engagements and diverse cultural norms through their perceived strong social capital in both societies, demonstrated a tendency towards hybrid coping strategies tailored to individual scenarios, reflecting a nuanced, case-by-case approach. This group exhibited a mixed migration intention, indicative of their flexible identity orientation. These findings suggest the need for multi-level support systems and policies that not only facilitate returnee identity continuity but also foster an inclusive and diverse societal framework to effectively retain this valuable population.

Strengthening Ideological Values through Pasantian Singing: Problematizing the Nexus Between Local Cultural Practices and Globality in Bali

This article aims to explore the traditional cultural practices of pasantian reading clubs in facing globality and subjective perceptions of modernity, transformation and change. Pasantian members sing and interpret conventional Balinese texts, thus playing a crucial role in maintaining the artistic and ideological identity of Bali Hindu people. However, engagement in these practices is significantly challenged by rapid sociological changes, which have led to a notable decline in the number of people involved in pasantian. The study focused on understanding how pasantian interact with notions of globality and how these groups can be strengthened to preserve local cultural and ideological values. A qualitative approach employed ethnographic methods such as participant observation and in-depth interviews to explore the practices of pasantian in terms of continuity and change. Findings highlight the importance of practitioners of traditional art forms in negotiating the local-global nexus and suggest strategies for revitalizing pasantian groups.

Which political entities are “Friendly” to religion? The interplay of entity, identity congruence, and Christian nationalism

Abstract How do Americans perceive the orientation of political entities toward religion? Building on group identity theories and burgeoning Christian nationalism research, I theorize Americans' perceptions of friendliness, neutrality, or unfriendliness toward religion will be contingent on the interplay between the specific entity, “identity congruence” (how partisan and ideological identities correspond to the partisan character of the entity), and Christian nationalism. Analyses of data from a large, nationally representative sample of Americans support my expectations. Both Christian nationalism and congruence on political identities predict how Americans perceive the posture of the Democratic Party, Republican Party, and Supreme Court toward religion. Yet associations differ depending on whether friendliness to religion challenges the entity's legitimacy (e.g., the Supreme Court). Interactions also show the influence of Christian nationalism and political identities on perceptions of friendliness are contingent on one another and the entity. Findings reveal how religious evaluations reflect group interests in complex ways.

Language shift in Aceh: The sociolinguistic situation of post-conflict society

Aceh is a special autonomous province of Indonesia located on the northwest tip of Sumatra Island. Aceh had been in conflict with the Indonesian government for more than 3 decades before officially declaring peace in 2005. This study aims to shed light on the sociolinguistic situation in Aceh during the conflict and following the 2005 peace accord, as well as to provide a deeper understanding of the roots of Aceh’s rapid language shift. Based on focus groups with young people and young parents, as well as follow-up interviews with members of an earlier generation, the study revealed that the prolonged conflict between Aceh and Indonesia failed to lead to resistance. Instead of being a colonial language, Indonesian is an integral part of national identity. Even though there was still a stated pride and high level of ideological identification with Acehnese, a gradual shift away from Acehnese began during the conflict. Since the 1970s and 1980s, an emerging phenomenon of Indonesian intergenerational transmission has emerged. This linguistic phenomenon then became more and more common among Acehnese families in the 2000s and peaked after the tsunami and peace agreement. Prestige/modernity, education, and socioeconomic factors seem to be the primary drivers of the Acehnese-to-Indonesian language shift.

Юрий Жданов – гений места (genius loci): Ростова, Дона и Северного Кавказа

The article highlights the main events of the Rostov period of the life and work of the outstanding organizer of science, socio-political figure and scientist I.A. Zhdanov in the context of the concept of the “genius of the place”. The analysis made it possible to identify, using the example of his biography, common objective and subjective factors, the combination of which makes it possible to transform the individual activity of the genius of the place into positive effects of the city of Rostov-on-Don, the Rostov region, and the North Caucasus region. The key positions of understanding Zhdanov's personality as the genius of the place are considered: regional ideological identification, contribution to the development of the territory, socio-cultural identity, historical reconstruction of the main events. It is shown how the scientific and social activities of Yu.A. Zhdanov contributed to the process of changes in the local Don and North Caucasian communities. An attempt was made to correlate the substantive aspects of the works of the genius of the place and his biography with the basic, fundamental elements of the history and culture of the Don and the North Caucasus. Data collection was carried out through the analysis of scientific periodicals, media materials and publications on social networks, memories of residents and representatives of regional authorities, as well as personal observations of the author.

Cultivation of Youth Patriotism in the New Era: Current Situation, Objectives and Practical Approaches

Youth patriotism education is an important part of maintaining national unity and promoting the growth and success of young people to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new era. However, youth patriotism education in the new era presents the following status quo: firstly, the education method and content are single and boring; secondly, it is deeply impacted by the negative information on the Internet and the invasion of diversified ideologies and cultures; and thirdly, the cultural self-confidence is weakened, and the influence of traditional culture is declining. Patriotic education for young people in the new era should aim at realizing young people's emotional identity, ideological identity and behavioral identity of knowledge and action. To this end, patriotic education in the new era can be adjusted from the adjustment of the form and content of patriotic education, strengthening the governance of multiple subjects in cyberspace, as well as basing on traditional culture and firming up cultural self-confidence, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of patriotic education for young people in the new era.

Влияние социально-экономической дифференциации молодежи на ее политическую идентичность

This article examines the features of the political identity of provincial youth based on socio-economic differentiation. It is noted that the youth environment is not homogeneous in its socio-economic status and such differentiation in the context of a Special Military Operation, an unstable political situation, and social tension presupposes a different political identity. In turn, this leads to destructive activity of young people in relation to government officials, as well as to intergroup conflicts. This assumption formed the basis of the author’s analysis in considering the possible dependence of the ideological identification of young people on their place in the social structure of society. The scientific tasks to be solved by the analysis are the understanding and conceptualization of the political and ideological orientations of modern youth in the context of socio-economic differentiation. The working hypothesis was that the least financially protected groups of young people are the most radical in relation to the authorities. Therefore, the author conditionally distinguishes two groups of young people. The first group of young people are those who have a low standard of living, suffer from a lack of social elevators and social injustice, do not have the opportunity to get a good education and are ready to change their position in society during protest actions. The second group of young people is the generation that grew up as “qualified consumers”, who saw risks in reducing their consumption levels and are therefore ready for protest actions in order to defend their rights as consumers. However , the study of this problem revealed that modern youth are quite apolitical, this was shown by answers to the question about choosing an ideology whose values are closest to the respondent, as well as a rather low percentage of radically minded youth, regardless of financial situation, which does not significantly affect the political process. At the same time, in conditions of political instability and elite conflict, these groups of youth can become a destructive resource for political actors in the conflict.

Toward a Shared Ideological Currency: Ideological Affective Polarization & the Changing Structure of Ideology in the U.S.

Much scholarly attention has focused on partisan affective polarization, a growing animosity between Democrats and Republicans in the mass public. Less notice has been given to affective polarization among the ideological teams, liberals, and conservatives. Yet, we suggest that given ideology’s particular influence in U.S. politics, ideological affective polarization has important and distinct consequences. We begin by offering evidence that ideological affective polarization both exists and has increased sharply in recent years. We theorize that this shift alters the way individuals come to form attachments to ideological identities, as well as the structure and tenor of ideology in the United States.

A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Ideological Identity Endorsed on the University's Homepages

Whilst a plethora of research has taken into account the exertion of website homepages as a conduit for effectively conveying information, it is acknowledged that the matter of ideological values and how these ideals are manifested through such digital communication media has been somewhat overlooked. Thus, the research at hand attempts to go over how the university advertises its ideological construal on its homepages by way of the adoption of multiple modes, involving both linguistic and aesthetic dimensions, and video. In this investigation, multimodal approaches encapsulated by Kress (2010) and Pauwels (2012) were employed to address the ideological values through visual components on the university homepages. Drawing from the attainable data, the university's homepage is crafted utilizing two fundamental categories of semiotic methods such as a combination of visual and textual elements, as well as video to reinforce the aesthetic, nevertheless, it neglects to incorporate any semiotic resource that places particular emphasis on visual components. The strategic utilization of diverse multiple modalities of communication on the homepage has effectively promoted an array of constructive ideological ideals that hold significant worth for stakeholders and the public, considering the pivotal role that universities play in shaping societal beliefs and perspectives.

Ideology as a Commodity. Authoritarianism in a Populist Form

The subject of the article is the phenomenon of successes of alt-right parties and their leaders. The contemporary rise of radical populism and its geopolitical scope are reflected in the discourse of its new features. Such a discussion offers a wealth of concepts and notions. Most of them describe practices of “dismantling” democracy, threats of dictatorship or even fascism. The presented analysis focuses on the question of the ideological identity of cases that can be specified as consolidated populism. The thesis I advance shows that the source of the durability of electoral support is a specific narrative based on a thinking style which Zygmunt Bauman termed “retrotopia.” This popular world view functions as a legitimizing myth, which the process of limiting democracy hides in the form of culture war. I conclude that the concept of retrotopia as a popularistic ideology adds more to the distinction between today’s different varieties of populist movements and political leaders.

Research on the Forming of Mainstream Ideology Among College Students in the Era of “Short Video”

Short videos, with their micro, fragmented, and diversified narrative methods, are profoundly changing the behavior and thinking patterns of users, and the mainstream ideological battlefield has been unprecedentedly impacted. The short video platform magnifies the characteristics of information dissemination in the Internet era. All users are both content publishers and content receivers, and the amount and speed of information dissemination are growing geometrically. Secondly, on the basis of producing a large number of short videos of the main theme, technological changes are utilized to fully improve the acceptance and interpretive power of the main theme ideology, providing a practical path for shaping the mainstream ideological identity of college students.

Recent Trends in Mass-Level Ideological Polarization in Latin America

AbstractThis article offers an analysis of the changes in mass-level ideological polarization in Latin America. It provides a cross-national, region-wide assessment of polarization dynamics using survey data on left-right ideological identities. A novel indicator for measuring ideological polarization at the individual level is proposed, which is more compatible with theoretical conceptualizations of ideological polarization than other existing indicators. The indicator is applied to data from the AmericasBarometer surveys to measure degrees and changes in mass-level ideological polarization in 19 Latin American countries between 2006 and 2019. The study reveals a substantial process of mass-level ideological restructuring, accompanied by a region-wide increase in ideological polarization in Latin America taking place during the second decade of the twenty-first century. We also find that ideological polarization, albeit varying in intensity from country to country, is clearly present at the mass level in the majority of countries in the region.

The Death and New Life of Law and Religion

Abstract The year 2023 was an end and a beginning. It saw the passing or retirement of many giants in the field of law and religion—scholars who brought their formidable erudition and insight to bear on questions that transcended legal doctrine, venturing upward into the heady realms of political theory, philosophy, history, sociology, and theology. These and other recent departures from the active world of law and religion are an occasion to reflect on the state of the field. This article begins with a brief history of the field, highlighting the questions that motivated it to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s and the intellectual currents and legal developments against which it was reacting. It then argues that some of the central concerns and inquiries that occupied law and religion as a discrete field of academic study in what it calls the first wave heyday are now at an end. These include the nature of religion and the secular in the law, the division between these concepts, and the implications for law and religion as an independent academic discipline; the concept of state neutrality as to religion and the connected public–private divide as respects what is religious and what is non-religiously political; and the regime of religious exemption for everyone with a sincere objection to a law as the central feature of religious free exercise, in constitutional and statutory law. This article argues that these are now, or will soon become, dead issues. Of course, they may well continue to be important for lawyers making and opposing claims in litigation, and for judges deciding among them, since the operative textual and doctrinal categories relevant to such claims will continue to depend on clever argumentation concerning some or all of them. And scholars will, no doubt, continue to wrangle over them. But to the extent that they continue to define the field or remain its signature issues, their growing irrelevance signals its death. Intellectual enterprises that survive over generations learn to adapt, and law and religion will need to do so as well. And, in fact, different issues, based on different premises and cultural circumstances, are beginning to emerge that may come to dominate the field and give it new life: the nature of political establishments and how they change; the use of ‘religion’ as a term for a category of political or ideological identity either to re-entrench or subvert political establishment; and the limits of what the so-called religious dissenters (who are now, and in large measure thanks to the first wave, indistinguishable from political or ideological dissenters) from the political establishment may reasonably expect in the way of accommodation from it. If the field is to survive, it will need to reorient itself towards new problems that afflict a very different world from the one in which it came into being.

Un soin psychique sans Psyché ? Idéologies identitaires, psychophobie généralisée et pratiques en santé mentale

Psychiatric care practices have long been inspired by humanist conceptions of psychic life, which attribute an anthropological depth to the human being, and an intentionality to symptoms. However, in recent decades, there has been a shift towards a reeducational approach. We propose to link this evolution with the emergence in society of ideological identity movements, characterized by their psychophobia and distrust of unconscious psychic life. Drawing on psychoanalytical concepts, we examine the extent to which these ideologies are rooted in a two-dimensional anthropological conception: a human being without psychic depth or internal conflictuality, perfectly identified with his or her discourse. The unconscious is denounced as the source of discrimination. It must therefore be condemned and neutralized, in favor of an ideal of transparency, purity, and homogeneity. Secondly, we argue that this generalized psychophobia has inspired normative and reeducational practices in mental health over the past half-century. In particular, we look at psychoeducation for psychotic patients, the recovery approach to schizophrenia, and activist clinical practices whose political and ideological commitments are detrimental to neutrality and an unconditional acceptance of subjectivity. Finally, we recall how psychoanalysis provides mental health professionals with ethical benchmarks for thinking about their practices, against the temptation to totalize.

Ideological Identification, Type of Threat, and Differences in How Anger and Fear Relate to Anti-Immigrant and Populist Attitudes

Following calls for a clear analytical distinction between populism and the specific ideological projects to which it is attached, the present article examines how populist and anti-immigrant attitudes relate to feelings of fear and anger about perceived threats facing the country. It posits that, although the association of these two discrete negative emotions with anti-immigration attitudes should be related to individuals’ ideological identification and the type of threat, populist attitudes, by virtue of their ubiquitous character, should be strongly associated with feelings of anger regardless of ideology or threat type. Drawing on data from an online survey in Spain, I find that anti-immigration attitudes are associated with anger among right-wing individuals and with fear among those on the center and the left, and more strongly associated with emotions linked to cultural threats. By contrast, results indicate that populist attitudes go hand in hand with feelings of anger across ideological groups and type of threat.

In Our Own Image: How Americans Rate Jesus on the Ideological Spectrum

How can Americans on the political left and right both claim their views represent those of Jesus? Using nationally-representative data in which Americans rated Jesus on the left-right ideological spectrum, we assess what characteristics are associated with Americans’ ratings and consider arguments about causal ordering. Competing expectations are drawn from “images of God” research and research showing political identities influence Americans’ religious characteristics. Focusing on Christians first, the strongest predictors of where Christians place Jesus was their own ideological identity followed closely by views on Christian nationalism. No other religious, racial, or partisan characteristics were associated with where Christians place Jesus. For insights on causal direction, we interact religiosity measures with ideological identity and Christian nationalism, finding identical patterns regardless of religious commitment. We also run models to see if patterns differ for non-Christians and the influence of ideological identity and Christian nationalism are nearly identical. Given that Americans’ ideological placement of Jesus has little to do with their own religious identity or commitment, findings lend more support for the theory that Christians and non-Christians alike project their own ideological identities and views about Christian nationalism onto Jesus rather than such characteristics following from stable images of Jesus.

The Moderating Effect of Ideological Identification on How Economic News and Economic Growth Impact Individual Economic Perceptions: Evidence From Chile

Previous literature argues that macroeconomic conditions and economic news impact socio-tropic assessments. Others find that ideological identification or ideological affinity with the government impact socio-tropic economic views. Here, we test the moderating effect of ideological identification on how economic growth and economic news shape economic perceptions. We test this hypothesis using a dataset that combines monthly polls in Chile (2014–2018), economic news, and economic growth indicators. We find that ideological affinity with the government intensifies the positive impact of good macroeconomic indicators on current and prospective perceptions and, surprisingly, induces more positive current perceptions when negative economic news increases. In turn, ideological affinity with the government is associated with a slightly negative impact of good macroeconomic indicators on current (but not prospective) economic perceptions and a negative impact of negative economic news on current and prospective perceptions. Ideology moderates the effect of macroeconomic indicators and economic news on economic perceptions.

The Identity of Political Islam in a Democratic Regime: The Ideology of the Prosperious Justice Party (PKS), Indonesia and the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkey

This study focuses on the identity and ideological orientation of two Islamic political parties, as well as their steps towards ideological moderation and specific electoral strategies within the political landscapes of two different countries. This is a library-based research that explores the identity of political Islam ideology in secular democracies, utilizing a combination of historical and political approaches. The sources include literature and writings about political Islam groups in Indonesia and Turkey, specifically PKS and AKP, derived from reputable books and scholarly articles. The study concludes that both PKS and AKP are moderate in ideology and politics. PKS, especially in post-New Order, transformed through moderation and inclusion, maintaining its Islamist identity while forming coalitions with nationalist parties for survival. Meanwhile, AKP combines moderate Islamism with conservative democracy, though Erdogan’s dominant leadership tends toward authoritarianism.

Self-Development as a Vector of Sustainable Development of Society: The Perspective of Ukrainian Students

The discrepancy between one's own personality and the desired self-image causes dissonance. But one can always change everything if one cares not only about one's own “EGO”, but also about the values of a sustainable future. Self-actualization, self-development, self-determination - these are potential determinants of human existence as such. The ideological identity combines the memory of the past, the value realities of the present life, and outlines the vector of respect for the life of future generations, which in turn actualizes the conceptual paradigm of the concept of sustainable development a priori. The implementation of the social component of sustainable societal development involves maintaining and enriching the mental health and psychological well-being of citizens. A powerful internal resource for this is self-development, which is a vector of self-realization, unlocking potential and increasing the resilience of the individual. The aim of the empirical study was to examine the attitudes and activity of future psychologists regarding self-development as a vector for realizing the ideas of the concept of sustainable societal development. Materials and methods: The study involved 156 Ukrainian students studying psychology. Methods of written surveys, statistical processing and qualitative analysis of diagnostic data, ranking were used. Results: It was found that self-development is an important factor in the professional development success of future psychologists, an effective motive for their learning and a significant professional priority. Most respondents clearly understand the connection between their own self-development and the sustainable development of Ukrainian society. 
 Keywords: self-development, sustainable societal development, social component of sustainable societal development, students, future psychologists, professional training