The Centre for Experimental Social Sciences (CESS) Nuffield - FLAME University is pleased to welcome Pre- Doctoral Fellow Emmy Lindstam (PhD Candidate, University of Mannheim). Emmy will be giving a talk titled "Conceptions of National Identity and Ambivalence towards Immigration".

Abstract:
National identities are often conceived of as factors that lend structure and stability to citizens’ political opinions on issues such as immigration: While citizens who define national membership in ethno-cultural terms are less likely to support immigration, those with a civic conception are more likely to do so. We propose that defining national identity along both ethno-cultural and civic lines may give rise to conflicting considerations leading people to experience ambivalence, implying that national identities may serve less as a stabilizing force than suggested by previous research. Findings from heterogeneous choice models and a unique survey experiment show that German citizens with mixed conceptions of national identity had more variable and more malleable opinions than individuals with ideal-type conceptions during the 2015/2016 European refugee crisis. Our findings point to an identity-based source of ambivalence and extend our knowledge of how people form attitudes towards immigration.

Bio:
Emmy is a PhD student at the Center for Doctoral Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Mannheim. She holds a master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Mannheim and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Barcelona. She has also studied Spanish and Latin American Studies at the Universities of Dalarna and Gothenburg. Emmy is currently an editorial assistant at the American Political Science Review.

Emmy's research focuses on areas of comparative politics and political psychology, with a regional interest in Europe and India. She is particularly interested in the consequences of rising majority-ethnic nationalism and explores the interplay between rising majority nationalism and political cohesion among minorities in India. She has also carried out research on national identities and opinion formation regarding immigration, political behavior in multi-level settings as well as the descriptive representation of immigrant-origin minorities.