1

Ingroup
Ingroup
-
-
Outgroup Evaluations and
Outgroup Evaluations and
National Identity
National Identity
in Turkish Cypriot Children
in Turkish Cypriot Children
XIV European Conference on Developmental Psychology
Mykolias Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania
August 18-22,2009
Biran MERTAN
Eastern Mediterranean University
biran.mertan@emu.edu.tr
SUMMARY
SUMMARY
The aim of the current study is to explore the conceptual development of national
identity in 7- to 11- year old Turkish Cypriot school children. Cyprus presents a
unique opportunity for the investigation of national identity and related issues due to
its vibrant and unresolved political and historical milieu. Currently, there is no
comprehensive developmental model that incorporates the conceptual
development of national identity in children with a stable political and national
versus unstable political and national scene. One would expect the sociopolitical
environment in Cyprus to shape the national identities that include large distances
and enmities between the self and the other. Seventy-one Turkish Cypriot
school children responded to the items on the National Identification Scale and
were requested to indicate their liking for ingroup and outgroup targets as well as
trait descriptions for those targets. In order to provide bases for comparisons
between the ingroup (Turkish Cypriots) and the enemy outgroup (Greek Cypriots),
two neutral outgroups (Ireland and the Netherlands) were also used. The overall
findings suggest that age, at least for the Turkish Cypriot school children sample,
has no impact on the development of national identity, indicating that 7 year olds
had just as strong national identity as 11 year olds. Moreover, in the current
sample, 7- to 11- year old girls demonstrated higher national identity than did 7- to
11- year old boys. Data also indicated a strong ingroup favoritism and negativity
toward the enemy ougroup.
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
Studiesonchildrens
conceptofnationalidentityand
attitudestowardsmembersoftheingroupand

outgroup

aremainlyfromWestern

industrialized

countries

withstablepoliticalandnational

institutions
OUTCOMES
OUTCOMES
INGROUPOUTGROUP
Tajfel&Turner,1986
Aboud,1988
Doyle,Beaudet&Aboud,1988
Barrett,Lyons&DelValle,2004
...
Thenationalidentificationrelatestopositiveaffect
towardtheingroup...existence of ingroup favoritism
OUTCOMES
OUTCOMES
NATIONALIDENTITY
Nesdale,MaassGriffiths&Durkin,2003
Barrett,Wilson&Lyons,2003
Barrett,2007
...
Preference for and identification with the ingroup increases
with age
LES IDENTITES MEURTRIERE (1998)
LES IDENTITES MEURTRIERE (1998)
ThefrequentquestionhowmuchyoufeelFrench

orLebanese?
ImmoreFrenchormoreLebanese...
theanswerisnotonenortheother:both...
Maaloufswrittingsaremarkedbyhisexperiencesof

civilwarandmigration.Thenovelscharactersare

itinerantvoyagersbetweenlands,languageand

religions.
AMINMAALOUF
BorninBeriut(1949)

settledinParissince

1976
*REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS * REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS AUTONOMOUS TURKISH GOVE
*REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS * REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS AUTONOMOUS TURKISH GOVE
RNMENT
RNMENT

* TURKISH FEDERATED STATE OF CYPRUS * TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTH
* TURKISH FEDERATED STATE OF CYPRUS * TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTH
ERN CYPRUS
ERN CYPRUS
BiranborninLefko
BiranborninLefko

alivinginCyprus
alivinginCyprus

holdingthefollowingIDs
holdingthefollowingIDs
REPUBLICOFCYPRUS(1960)
REPUBLICOFCYPRUSAUTONOMOUS

TURKISHGOVERNMENT(1974)
TURKISHFEDERATEDSTATEOFCYPRUS

(1975)
TURKISHREPUBLICOFNORTHERNCYPRUS

(1983)
+
REPUBLICOFTURKEY(1923)
MustafaZeki(1886
MustafaZeki(1886

1964)
1964)
StateofaffairsinCyprussince
StateofaffairsinCyprussince

1960s
1960s
13
Republic of Cyprus
1960
1963
1974
1975
1983
2003
2004
?
Opening of Ganjelli (cancello)
Referendum-EU membership
(with the acquis communitaire
suspended in the nothern part)
TURKISH FEDERATED STATE OF CYPRUS (1975)
TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS (1983)
REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS
AUTONOMOUS TURKISH
GOVERNMENT (1974)
NORTH CYPRUS
NORTH CYPRUS
Political instability
Turkishness
Cypriotness
Turkish-Cypriotness
Vibrant and unresolved political and
historical milieu
Turkish-Cypriot leadership has the dream
of taksim (partition of the island) (enosis-
union with Greece)
15
16
TURKISH
TURKISH
-
-
CYPRIOT CHILDREN
CYPRIOT CHILDREN
RAISED IN A SETTING OF
RAISED IN A SETTING OF
Overexaggerated ethnocentric historical
narratives and historical events
strenthening ethnic identity
Symbols and emblems
Etnocentric curricula involving outgroup
deregotion and national pride
And hostility against the other (gavur)
GAVUR
GAVUR
Asanexampleofdistancingtheother

from

theself,theTurkishwordgavur

thatis

differentiallydefinedasenemy,nonMuslim,

Christian,infidel,unbeliever,merciless,cruel,

heartlessorobstinatebecamethepopular

adjectivetodesignatetheothers,namely

theGreekCypriots,Armenians,Latinos,and

Maronites

cohabitingontheislandofCyprus.
AIMSOFTHEPRESENTRESEARCH
AIMSOFTHEPRESENTRESEARCH
Toexaminetheroleofsociohistoricalsettings

inthedevelopmentofnationalidentityand

ingroupoutgroupattitudesinchildren
Toexaminetheimpactofrecurringshiftsin

politicalidentity
PARTICIPANTS
PARTICIPANTS
71TurkishCypriotchildren(38boysand33

girls)aged711
Materials
Materials
TurkishversionofBarrettsNIScale(2005)
Listofadjectives
Thedatawerecollectedin2006,twoyears

afterCyprusbecameanEUmember
RESULTS
RESULTS
SUMMARYOFFINDINGS
SUMMARYOFFINDINGS
TurkishCypriotchildrensNIperceptionswere

verystrong.Indeed,theveryhighscoresfor

thepositiveinternalization,affecttowardNI,

nationalprideareindicativeofastrongneed

tosticktonationalvaluesandidentitiesin

expressinganddescribingself.
Noagedifferenceswerefound.
Meanscoresforthedimensionsof
Meanscoresforthedimensionsof

nationalidentificationforeachageand
nationalidentificationforeachageand

gender
gender
Age
7-years (n=39) 11-years
(n=32)
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Degree 4.05 4.29 4.18 4.35 5.00 4.62
Affect 4.61 4.70 4.65 4.21 4.67 4.38
Neg. Internalization 4.17 3.95 4.05 4.20 4.58 4.34
Pos. Internalization 4.67 4.38 4.51 4.65 4.83 4.72
Importance 3.88 4.72 4.33 4.11 4.41 4.23
Pride 4.24 4.71 4.48 4.20 4.65 4.36
Girlsscoredhigherthanboys.
ThestrongeridentificationofgirlsasTurkishCypriots

maybeduetotheircloserandmorefrequent

exposuretofamilynarrativesfromolderfemale

members.
Theemotionalrememberingandthenarrativesof

sufferingforTurkishCypriotsareanimportant

mediumforbothpersonalandcollective

engagement.Actually,girlsidentifiedthemselves

completelywithTurkishCypriots

andarehighly

sensitivetopositiveopinionsabouttheirnation(i.e.,

positiveinternalization).
Traitattributionsaccordingto

domainandtargetgroup
Domain
Target group Positive trait Negative trait
Ingroup 3.16 0.51
Enemy outgroup 1.14 1.67
Neutral outgroup 1 1.60 0.78
Neutral outgroup 2 1.73 0.66
Turkish-Cypriot children demonstrated a strong
ingroup favoritism toward their national group.
CorrelationCoefficientsamongidentity
CorrelationCoefficientsamongidentity

componentsandlikingforingroupand
componentsandlikingforingroupand

outgroups
outgroups
Identitfication
dimensions Ingroup
Enemy
Outgroup
Neutral
Outgroup 1
Neutral
Outgroup 2
Degree .26** .20 -.01 -.04
Affect .38** .02 -.30* -.24*
Neg.Int. .02 .05 -.16 -.11
Pos.Int. .03 -.15 -.34** -.36**
Importance .39** .13 -.05 .02
Pride .36 .12 .00 -.03
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Inthepresentstudy,clearingroupfavoritismwas

observedwiththeTurkishCypriotchildren.Of

interesthereisthatwhilechildrenpositivelyrelate

totheirownnationalidentitybybeingTurkish

Cypriot,thestrengthoftheirnationalidentification

isnegativelyrelatedtotheiraffecttowardsGreek

Cypriots (i.e.,thetraditionalenemy).Thesefindings

areconsistentwithsocialidentitytheory,inwhichit

ispredictedthatchildrensintergroupattitudeswill

beaffectedbyknowledgeoftheprevailingstructure

ofintergrouprelationswithinwhichtheirowngroup

isembedded.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
ThesenseofbelongingtoTurkishCypriotness

for

theTurkishCypriotschoolchildrenisdependingon

contextualvariablessuchasthemedia,political

discourse,closeintergenerationalrelationsand

parentalpractices,andtheeducationalsystem

includingteachers,peers,curricula,andtextbooks.

Allthesevariablesandmoreconstitutemultiple

factorsthatinfluencethedevelopmentofchildrens

nationalidentityandethnicgroupattitudes.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
InCypriotschoolchildrenseverydayvibrantand

unresolvedpoliticalmilieu,Cypriotidentityand

powersharingbetweentwocommunitiesare

becomingthebanalitiesofpoliticaldiscourse.The

developmentofTurkishCypriotchildrensnational

identityasTurkishCypriot

wouldthenbea

consequenceofcompositeconventionalethnic

motivationstobecomesuperiortoGreekCypriots

andtokeepstrongtieswiththesuperordinate

identityofTurkishness.
PRIDE
AFFECT POSINT
NEGINT
IMPORT
DEGREE
.740
.497
.682
.616
.420
4.38
4.54
6
4.18
4.61
4.29
4.43
NATIONAL
IDENTITY
.362
.328
.358
.289
.368
THANKSFORYOURATTENTION
THANKSFORYOURATTENTION