PERCEPTIONS OF GROUP INDENTITY AND RECENT POLITICAL BEHAVIOR IN NORTHERN IRELAND

In: Political psychology: journal of the International Society of Political Psychology, Band 6, Heft 1, S. 47-60

Abstract

SOCIETAL CLEAVAGES BASED ON CULTURAL, ETHNIC, OR TRIBAL DIVISIONS ARE, IT CAN BE ARGUED, QUALITATIVELY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE BASED ON OTHER FACTORS (E.G., ECONOMIC IDEOLOGY). IN THIS CONTEXT, "ETHNICITY" CAN BE CONCEPTUALIZED AS A SET OF ASCRIBED AND ACQUIRED CHARACTERISTICS WHICH DERIVE PRINCIPALLY FROM AN INDIVIDUAL'S BIRTH AND UPBRINGING. ETHNICITY IS COMPOSED PRIMARILY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS WHICH CAN NOT BE SHED OR SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED, EVEN IF AN INDIVIDUAL WISHES TO DO SO, AS EASILY AS CAN PURELY ACQUIRED CHARACTERISTICS SUCH AS ECONOMIC IDEOLOGY (E.G., CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM, COMMUNISM). IN THOSE SOCIETIES WITH POLITICALLY RELEVANT ETHNIC DIVISIONS, THE SWITCHING OF POLITICAL IDENTITIES IS A VERY RARE OCCURRENCE. IN THIS ARTICLE, THE PRINCIPAL PSYCHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS RELATED TO THE POLITICAL CLEAVAGE BETWEEN NORTHERN IRISH PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS ARE BRIEFLY REVIEWED. SECOND, THE MAIN POLITICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF THIS CLEAVAGE SINCE THE 1960S ARE SUMMARIZED, ESPECIALLY THE BEHAVIOR OF POLITICIANS AND VOTERS IN THE OCTOBER 1982 NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY ELECTION.