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Xenophobia and In-Group Solidarity in Iraq: A Natural Experiment on the Impact of Insecurity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2006

Ronald Inglehart ,
Mansoor Moaddel  and
Mark Tessler
Ronald Inglehart
Affiliation:
University of [email protected]
Mansoor Moaddel
Affiliation:
Eastern Michigan [email protected]
Mark Tessler
Affiliation:
University of [email protected]
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Abstract

A large body of research by political scientists, psychologists and historians suggests that “existential security”—the feeling that survival can be taken for granted—is conducive to tolerance of foreigners, openness to social change and a pro-democratic political culture. Conversely, existential insecurity leads to 1) xenophobia and 2) strong in-group solidarity. This article tests these hypotheses against evidence from a recent survey of Iraq—a society where one would expect to find exceptionally high levels of insecurity. We find that the Iraqi public today shows the highest level of xenophobia found in any of the 85 societies for which data are available—together with extremely high levels of solidarity with one's own ethnic group.Ronald Inglehart is Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan ([email protected]), Mansoor Moaddel is Professor of Sociology at Eastern Michigan University ([email protected]), and Mark Tessler is Professor of Political Science at University of Michigan ([email protected]).

Type
Research Article
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , September 2006 , pp. 495 - 505
Copyright
© 2006 American Political Science Association

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