Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

National Identity in the United States

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook of Identity Theory and Research

Abstract

This chapter explores many facets of the question “What does it mean to be American?” The topic of American national identity is explored from the perspective of political science, while drawing on history, political philosophy, and psychology. The chapter begins with an exploration of the concepts of nationalism and patriotism, and discusses how they play a role in American public opinion. Next it examines the notion of identity attachment, which refers to the extent to which people think of themselves first and foremost as American. The question of identity attachment is often salient when societies have high levels of immigration, as the United States has had over the past several decades. As such, this section pays particular attention to the study of ethnic and racial differences in identity attachment. The factors that influence such attachment are discussed, as are the consequences of such attachment – or lack thereof – on political outcomes, such as trust in political institutions and political behavior. The final section of the chapter investigates the content of American identity, which involves the set of norms that people think constitutes American identity, such as the norms of free speech, active citizenship, and Protestantism. It looks at what these norms are, how they have evolved over time, the extent to which they are adopted by various segments of the American population. As with the section on identity attachment, this final section specifically addresses ethnic and racial differences in how people define what it means to be American.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Banning, L. (1986). Jeffersonian ideology revisited: Liberal and classical ideas in the new American republic. William and Mary Quarterly 43(1), 3–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branscombe, N. R., Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (1999). The context and content of social identity threat. In N. Ellemers, R. Spears, B. Doosje (Eds.), Social identity (pp. 35–58). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, P. J. (2006). State of emergency: The third world invasion and conquest of America (1st ed.), New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Citrin, J., Haas, E. B., Muste, C., & Reingold, B. (1994). Is American nationalism changing? Implications for foreign policy. International Studies Quarterly 38(1), 1–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Citrin, J., Lerman, A., Murakami, M., & Pearson, K. (2007). Testing Huntington: Is Hispanic immigration a threat to American identity?. Perspectives on Politics 5(1), 31–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Citrin, J., Reingold, B., & Green, D. P. (1990). American identity and the politics of ethnic change. Journal of Politics 52, 1124–1154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Citrin, J., & Sides, J. (2008). Immigration and the imagined community in Europe and the United States. Political Studies 56, 33–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Citrin, J., Wong, C., & Duff, B. (2001). The meaning of American national identity. In R. Ashmore, L. Jussim, D. Wilder (Eds.), Social identity, intergroup conflict, and conflict resolution (pp. 71–100). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conover, P. J. (1988). Feminists and the gender gap. Journal of Politics 50, 985–1010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conover, P. J., Crewe, I. M., & Searing, D. D. (1991). The nature of citizenship in the United States and Great Britain: Empirical comments on theoretical themes. Journal of Politics 53, 800–832.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conover, P. J., & Sapiro, V. (1993). Gender, feminist consciousness, and war. American Journal of Political Science 37, 1079–1099.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, D. (2007). Negative liberty: Public opinion and the terrorist attacks on America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, J. A., & Smith, T. W. (1996). General social surveys, 1996. Chicago: National Opinion Research Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, M. C. (1994). Behind the mule: Race and class in African-American politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Figueiredo, R., Jr., & Elkins, Z. (2003). Are patriots bigots? An inquiry into the vices of in-group pride. American Journal of Political Science 47, 171–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de la Garza, R. O., Falcon, A., & Garcia, F. C. (1996). Will the real Americans please stand up: Anglo and Mexican-American support of core American political values. American Journal of Political Science 40, 335–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Department of Homeland Security. (2008). 2007 yearbook of immigration statistics. Retrieved October 26, 2008, from http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/statistics/publications/yearbook.shtm.

  • Devos, T., & Banaji, M. R. (2005). American = White?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88, 447–466.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dovidio, J., & Morris, W. (1975). Effects of stress and commonality of fate on helping behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 31, 145–149.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ellemers, N., & Barreto, M. (2001). The impact of relative group status: Affective, perceptual, and behavioral consequences. In R. Brown, S. Gaertner (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Intergroup processes (pp. 324–343). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fetzer, J. S. (2000). Public attitudes toward immigration in the United States, France, and Germany. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flippen, A. R., Hornstein, H. A., Siegal, W. E., & Weitzman, E. A. (1996). A comparison of similarity and interdependence as triggers for in-group formation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 22, 882–893.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaertner, S., & Dovidio, J. (2000). Reducing intergroup bias: The common ingroup identity model. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • García Bedolla, L. (2005). Fluid borders: Latino power, identity, and politics in Los Angeles. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerstle, G. (2001). American crucible: Race and nation in the twentieth century. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glazer, N. (1997). We are all multiculturalists now. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hackney, S. (1997). One America, indivisible: A national conversation on American pluralism and identity. Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Humanities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartz, L. (1955). The liberal tradition in America: An interpretation of American political thought since the Revolution (1st ed.), New York: Harcourt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayden, S., Jackson, T., & Guydish, J. (1984). Helping behavior of females: Effects of stress and commonality of fate. Journal of Psychology 117, 233–237.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Held, D. (1996). Models of democracy (2nd ed.), Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington, M. J. (2005). Why trust matters: Declining political trust and the demise of American liberalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higham, J. (1993). Multiculturalism and universalism: A history and critique. American Quarterly 45(2), 195–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollinger, D. A. (1995). Post-ethnic America: Beyond multiculturalism. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hornstein, H. A. (1976). Cruelty and kindness: A new look at aggression and altruism. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huddy, L., & Khatib, N. (2007). American patriotism, national identity, and political involvement. American Journal of Political Science 51, 63–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, S. P. (1981). American politics: The promise of disharmony. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, S. P. (2004). Who are we? The challenges to America’s identity. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kallen, H. (1924). Culture and democracy in the United States. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kosterman, R., & Feshbach, S. (1989). Toward a measure of patriotic and nationalistic attitudes. Political Psychology 10, 257–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lien, P., Conway, M. M., & Wong, J. (2004). The politics of Asian Americans: Diversity and community. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipset, S. M. (1963). The first new nation: The United States in historical and comparative perspective. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClain, P., Johnson Carew, J., Walton, E., & Watts, C. (2009). Group membership, group identity, and group consciousness: Measures of racial identity in American politics. Annual Review of Political Science 12, 471–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDaniel, E., & Nooruddin, I. (2008). Proud to be an American: How national pride affects visions of national identity. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michelson, M. R. (2003). The corrosive effect of acculturation: How Mexican Americans lose political trust. Social Science Quarterly 84(4), 918–933.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, A. H., Gurin, P., Gurin, G., & Malanchuk, O. (1981). Group consciousness and political participation. American Journal of Political Science 25(3), 494–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, C. W. (1997). The racial contract. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myrdal, G. (1944). An American dilemma. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Passel, J. (2006). The size and characteristics of the unauthorized migrant population in the U.S. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paxton, P., & Mughan, A. (2006). What’s to fear from immigrants? Creating an assimilationist threat scale. Political Psychology 27, 549–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, K., & Citrin, J. (2006). The political assimilation of the fourth wave. In T. Lee, S. K. Ramakrishnan, R. Ramirez (Eds.), Transforming politics, transforming America (pp. 217–242). Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers, D. (1992). Republicanism: The career of a concept. Journal of American History 79(1), 11–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. iPoll Databank. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu.ezproxy.library.tufts.edu/ipoll.html

  • Sam, D. (2006). Acculturation: Conceptual background. In D. Sam, J. Berry (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology (pp. 11–26). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schatz, R., Staub, E., & Lavine, H. (1999). On the varieties of national attachment: Blind versus constructive patriotism. Political Psychology 20(1), 151–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schildkraut, D. J. (2005a). Press one for English: Language policy, public opinion, and American identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schildkraut, D. J. (2005b). The rise and fall of political engagement among Latinos: The role of identity and perceptions of discrimination. Political Behavior 27, 285–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schildkraut, D. J. (2007). Defining American identity in the 21st century: How much “there” is there?. Journal of Politics 69, 597–615.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schildkraut, D. J. (2011). Americanism in the twenty-first century: Public opinion in the age of immigration. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger, A. M. (1998). The disuniting of America: Reflections on a multicultural society. (Rev. and enlarged.). New York: W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidanius, J., Feshback, S., Levin, S., & Pratto, F. (1997). The interface between ethnic and national attachment: Ethnic pluralism or ethnic dominance?. Public Opinion Quarterly 61, 102–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. M. (1993). Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The multiple traditions in America. American Political Science Review 87(3), 549–566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. M. (1997). Civic ideals: Conflicting visions of citizenship in US history. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. M. (2003). Stories of peoplehood: The politics and morals of political membership. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, W. (1982). Reconstructing public philosophy. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In W. Austin, S. Worchel (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7–24). Chicago: Nelson-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • The National Election Studies. (2004). The 2004 National Election Study.http://www.electionstudies.org

  • Theiss-Morse, E. (2003). Identification and disidentification: Americans’ commitment to the national collective and its consequences. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Philadelphia, PA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Theiss-Morse, E. (2004). Who’s in and who’s out: American national identity and the setting of boundaries. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Theiss-Morse, E. (2005). Benefitting the national group – at least some of it: The consequences of limiting who counts as an American. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Theiss-Morse, E. (2006). The obligations of national identity: Charity, welfare, and the boundaries of the national group. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tichenor, D. J. (2002). Dividing Lines: The politics of immigration control in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tocqueville, Ad. (1835/1990). Democracy in America. New York: Vintage Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, J. (1982). Towards a Cognitive Redefinition of the Social Group. In H. Tajfel, (Ed.), Social identity and intergroup relations (pp. 15–40). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyack, D. (1999). Preserving the republic by educating republicans. In N. Smelsner, J. Alexander (Eds.), Diversity and its discontents: Cultural conflict and common ground in contemporary American society (pp. 63–83). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, T. (2006). Why people obey the law. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, T., & Huo, Y. (2002). Trust in the law: Encouraging public cooperation with the police and courts. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). Statistical Abstract of the United States. Retrieved October 26, 2008, from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/

  • Walzer, M. (1996). What it means to be an American: Essays on the American experience. New York: Marsilio.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, C. (2003). Confidence of Mexican Americans in major institutions in the United States. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 25, 501–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Values Survey. (2004). World Values Survey, Online Data Analysis. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org

  • Wright, S. (2001). Strategic Collective Action: Social Psychology and Social Change. In R. Brown, S. Gaertner (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Intergroup processes (pp. 409–430). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zolberg, A. R., & Woon, L. L. (1999). Why Islam is like Spanish: Cultural Incorporation in Europe and the United States. Politics and Society 27, 5–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Packard Hall, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Deborah J. Schildkraut

Authors
  1. Deborah J. Schildkraut
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deborah J. Schildkraut .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public He, University of Miami, N.W. 10th Avenue, Suite 321 1425, Miami, 33136, Florida, USA

    Seth J. Schwartz

  2. , Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, 3000, Belgium

    Koen Luyckx

  3. School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH, United Kingdom

    Vivian L. Vignoles

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Schildkraut, D.J. (2011). National Identity in the United States. In: Schwartz, S., Luyckx, K., Vignoles, V. (eds) Handbook of Identity Theory and Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9_36

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation