EASP small group meeting Budapest, 18 – 21 June, 2015 Social identity complexity and inclusiveness in ethnic majority and minority youth groups Marija Branković, Olja Jovanović, Maša Pavlović, Marko Vladisavljević, Iris Žeželj, Nebojša Petrović Belgrade University

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 research context: Western Balkans Today: a region in the process of EU integration, moving towards the proclaimed goals of tolerant and open societies. Still, deep seated ethnic and religious divisions are prevalent.

A post-conflict region? The aspired goal: creating inclusive societies integrated into Europe But, Still prevalent and deep ethnic and religious divisions. Minority groups are not well integrated and deprived of acsess to resources. One of the important impediments: exclusive social identifications. Ethnic divisions and segregation still in the everyday life Ethnocentrism Religious identifications on the rise Ethnic and religious identification closely intertwined

Multiple social identities Focus on multiple social identities A novel approach to studying social identities (Roccas&Brewer, 2002) Cross-cutting group membership Is this complexity reflected in individuals’ perceptions? Theoretical rationale: More complex/inclusive identities – embracing of more inclusive societies (Bodenhausen, 2010)

Multiple social identites Ethnic group National group Religious group Rezognize as ingroupers persons I share some, but not all characteristics with, why this is important

Research problem Focus on the youth (20-30 y.o.a) as the agent of social change Construal of multiple social identities in young ethnic majority and minority group members in Serbia and Kosovo How complex and how inclusive are their social identities?

Research problem Five groups with different ethnic, but also social and political backgrounds: majority at both state and local levels (Serbs in Belgrade) state minority and local minority (Bosniaks in Belgrade) state majority and local minority (Serbs in Sandzak) state minority and local majority (Bosniaks in Sandzak) (Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica) Different statuses on state and local levels could shape different identity structures and strategies

Study design

Key constructs and measures Social Identity Complexity (SIC, Roccas & Brewer, 2002) the degree to which different identities are both differentiated and integrated in a person’s mental representation of her or his group membership Low complexity - a highly exclusive in-group representation; High complexity - differentiation between in-group categories.

Social Identity Complexity Operationalization: Perceived overlap between national / ethnic / religious in-groups e.g. When you think of people who are Serbs, how many of them are Orthodox? When you think of people who are citizens of Serbia, how many of them are Serbs? (Maloku-Bërdyna, 2014, Roccas & Brewer, 2002, Schmid et al., 2009)

Key constructs and measures Social Identity Inclusiveness (SII, Van Dommelen et al., 2015) how inclusively or exclusively one defines the in-group from the combination of multiple cross-cutting categories the relative number of people a person identifies with based on group membership SII varies on a continuum from a very restricted to a highly inclusive social self

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 Measure: the number of persons categorized as US

Stimuli from the triple categorization task Citizen of Serbia Bosniak ethnicity Muslim Aida Spahić US THEM Stimuli from the triple categorization task

Stimuli from the triple categorization task Citizen of Serbia Serbian ethnicity Christian Orthodox Slobodanka Filipović US THEM Stimuli from the triple categorization task

Sampling Sample: ethnic majority and minority group members in Serbia and Kosovo (N=265). Two towns in Serbia: Belgrade and Novi Pazar One town in Kosovo: Kosovska Mitrovica Quota sample by gender, education and ethnicity.

Analysis Group comparisson

Results: Social Identity Complexity SERBS BOSNIAKS Theoretical range of the SIC measure: 1-11, higher number – lesscomplexity Ethnicity F (1, 260) = 4.54, p = .034, η2=.017 Status on state level F (1,260) = 15.571, p = .000), η2=0.57,

SIC: ethnic-religious overlap

Results: Social Identity Inclusiveness SERBS BOSNIAKS SII measure theoretical range: 1-24, higher value indicating more inclusive idenitity Ethnicity (F (1,263) = 13.40, p=.000, η2=.048) Status at the state level (F (1, 260) = 16.06, p =.000, η2=.058) Status at the local level (F (1, 260) = 6.94, p =.009, η2 =.026)

Social inclusiveness styles Serbs Belgrade Serbs Novi Pazar Serbs Kosovska mitrovica Bosniaks Novi Pazar Belgrade Egalitarian structure (14.3%) Egalitarian structure (9.4%) Ethnic dominanace (15.9%) ER intersection /Religious dominance (13.2%) ER intersection (15.4%) *only 30% of participants was categorized into one of the styles

Contact with out-group members Majority/minority status There were no moderation effects of minority/majority status (either state or local level). Country contact* Social Identity Complexity -.123* Quality of contact Social Identity Inclusiveness .239 **

Individual identifications and SIC/SII β Individual identifications and SIC/SII Ethnicity ID β = -.34** to -.48** Social Identity Inclusiveness Religious ID National ID European ID Strong ethnic identification leads to less inclusive identites. Technique: step-wise regression

Individual identifications and SIC/SII β Individual identifications and SIC/SII Ethnicity ID Social Identity Complexity Religious ID* β = .26 National ID European ID** β =.29 *Bosniaks Novi Pazar **Serbs Belgrade

Discussion Minority/majority perspectives on multiple social identities: similarities and differences? Potential opportunities and barriers for improved inter-ethnic relations stemming from both perspectives Majority – less complex and more inclusive identities Minority – more complex and less inclusive identities Importance of both state-level status and local context for identity construal

Discussion Some similarities in both minority/majority perspectives: Stronger ties with the ethnic identity – less inclusive identities More (quality) diversity – more complex and inclusive identities Multiple identities perspective as a useful tool for conceptualizing minority/majority perspectives

The research team

For further information, please visit: http://sibyouth.org/en/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Social-Identity-Complexity-in-the-Balkans/311987085670238 Or write to: marija.brankovic@fmk.edu.rs

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! DISCLAIMER    The RRPP promotes social science research in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia). Social science research aids in the understanding of the specific reform needs of countries in the region and in identifying the long-term implications of policy choices. Researchers receive support through research grants, methodological and thematic trainings as well as opportunities for regional and international networking and mentoring. The RRPP is coordinated and operated by the Interfaculty Institute for Central and Eastern Europe (IICEE) at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). The programme is fully funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The views expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent opinions of the SDC and the University of Fribourg.