Attitudes towards the european union in Turkey: The role of perceived threats and benefits
| dc.contributor.author | Gizem Arikan | |
| dc.contributor.author | Arikan, Gizem | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-10-22T16:06:42Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2012 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Public opinion towards the European Union in Turkey is a relatively understudied area. Although previous studies have identified some important factors that influence individual support for the European Union such as material expectations and democratic attitudes the role of other factors such as the perceived political benefits and threats have not been addressed. The purpose of this paper is to test group-centricism arguments which suggest that identity group-based interests and perceived threats are important determinants of attitudes. An analysis of data from the latest available Eurobarometer Survey shows that symbolic politics and perceived benefits play an important role in shaping individual attitudes towards the EU in Turkey. While subjective material and political expectations increase pro-EU attitudes the strength of national identity and perceived material and cultural threats to the nation are crucial in decreasing support for the EU. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | 1 Major works that utilise survey data to explore the sources of individual attitudes towards the EU in Turkey are Ali Çarkoğlu \"Who Wants Full Membership? Characteristics of Turkish Public Support for EU Membership\" Turkish Studies Vol. 4 No. 1 (2003) pp. 171-194, Ali Çarkoğlu \"Societal Perceptions of Turkey's EU Membership: Causes and Consequences of Support for EU Membership\" in Mehmet Uğur and Nergis Canefe (eds.) Turkey and European Integration: Accession Prospects and Issues London and New York Routledge 2004 pp. 19-46, Çiğdem Kentmen \"Determinants of Support for EU Membership in Turkey\" European Union Politics Vol. 9 No. 4 (December 2008) pp. 487-510, Ali Çarkoğlu and Çiğdem Kentmen \"Diagnosing Trends and Determinants in Public Support for Turkey s EU Membership\" South European Society and Politics Vol. 16 No. 1 (September 2011) pp. 365-379, Ozgehan Şenyuva \"Türkiye-Avrupa Birliği İlişkileri ve Kamuoyu\" in Oğuz Esen and Filiz Başkan (eds.) Avrupa Birliği ve Türkiye îli§kileri: Beklentiler ve Kaygılar Ankara Eflatun Yayınevi 2009 pp. 33-60.2 Lauren McLaren \"Public Support for the European Union: Cost/ Benefit Analysis or Perceived Cultural Threat?\" Journal of Politics Vol. 64 No. 2 (May 2002) pp. 551- 566, Lauren M. McLaren Identity Interests and Attitudes to European Integration Hampshire and New York Palgrave MacMillan 2006 pp. 38-41.3 Ebru Canan-Sokullu \"Turcoscepticism and Threat Perception: European Public and Elite Opinion on Turkey's Protracted EU Membership\" South European Society and Politics Vol. 16 No. 3 (September 2011) pp. 483-497.4 Donald Kinder \"Opinion and Action in the Realm of Politics\" in Daniel T. Gilbert Susan T. Fiske and Gardner Lindzey (eds.) Handbook of Social Psychology 4th Edition New York McGraw-Hill 1998 pp. 778-867.5 Self-interest is usually defined narrowly as the pursuit of immediate material benefits in an individual's own personal life (or that of his or her immediate family). In addition it is also essential to exclude material gains that benefit the group such as sociotropic benefits (e.g. gains to the national economy etc) as well as non-material gains to the individual (e.g. social prestige) from the definition of self-interest. See Kinder \"Opinion and Action in the Realm of Politics\", David O. Sears and Carolyn L. Funk \"Hie Role of Self-interest in Social and Political Attitudes\" Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Vol. 24 No.l (1991) pp. 1-91. *6 Kinder \"Opinion and Action in the Realm of Politics\" p. 800.7 Ibid. p. 801.8 Sears and Funk \"The Role of Self-interest in Social and Political Attitudes\" p. 18.9 While most studies find these objective self-interest variables to be of minimal influence it is wrong to view self-interest as being completely irrelevant in public opinion formation. Self-interest does make a difference especially under certain circumstances: for example when the material benefit or harm of the proposed policies is substantial imminent and well publicized. See Kinder \"Opinion and Action in the Realm of Politics\" p. 802.10 Chris Anderson and M. Shwan Reichert \"Economic Benefits and Support for Membership in the EU: A Cross-National Analysis\" Journal of Public Policy Vol. 15 Issue 3 (September 1995) pp. 231-250, Matthew Gabel and Harvey D. Palmer \"Understanding Variation in Public Support for European Integration\" European Journal of Political Research Vol. 27 No. 1 (January 1995) pp. 3-19.11 Ibid.12 Occupational category level of education or class-based gains are usually statistically significant predictors of EU support in both member and candidate countries. For evidence concerning the utilitarian hypothesis for candidate countries see Matthew J. Gabel \"Public Support for European Integration: An Empirical Test of Five Theories\" Journal of Politics Vol. 60 No. 2 (May 1998) pp. 333-354, see Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks \"Does Identity or Economic Rationality Drive Public Opinion on European Integration\" PS: Political Science and Politics Vol. 37 No. 3 (July 2004) pp. 415 - 420, for empirical evidence supporting the utilitarian perspective for EU member states see Orla Doyle and Jan Fidrmuc \"Who is in Favour of Enlargement? Determinants of Support for EU Membership in the Candidate Countries' Referanda\" The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series No. 045 (November 2004) Trinity College Dublin, Piret Ehin \"Determinants of Public Support for EU Membership: Data from the Baltic Countries\" European Journal of Political Research Vol. 40 No. 1 (August 2001) pp. 31-56.13 Kentmen \"Determinants of Support for EU Membership in Turkey\", Çarkoğlu and Kentmen \"Diagnosing Trends and Determinants in Public Support for Turkey's EU Membership\". A comparative assessment of support for the EU in new and old member states as well as candidate countries also shows the irrelevance of self-interest variables in the Turkish context. See Brent F. Nelsen James L. Guth and Brian Highsmith \"Does Religion Still Matter? Religion and Public Attitudes toward Integration in Europe\" Politics and Religion Vol. 4 No. 1 (April 2011) pp. 1-26.14 McLaren Identity Interests and Attitudes to European Integration.15 Matthew J. Gabel and Guy Whitten \"Economic Conditions Economic Perceptions and Public Support for European Integration\" Political Behavior Vol. 19 No. 1 (March 1997) pp. 81-96.16 Çarkoğlu \"Who Wants Full Membership?\".17 McLaren Identity Interests and Attitudes to European Integration.18 Adel Abusara \"Public Opinion in Turkey on EU Accession -An (Un)desirable Marriage?\" Western Balkans Security Observer Vol. 17 (April-June 2010) pp. 77-87. Also see Şenyuva \"Türkiye-Avrupa Birliği İlişkileri ve Kamuoyu\".19 Ruairi Patterson \"Rising Nationalism and the EU Accession Process\" Turkish Policy Quarterly Vol. 7 No.l (Spring 2008) pp. 131-138, Ziya Öniş and Şuhnaz Yılmaz \"Between Europeanization and Euro-Asianism: Foreign Policy Activism in Turkey during the AKP Era\" Turkish Studies Vol. 10 No. 1 (March 2009) pp. 7-24.20 In fact the effect of self-interest variables is usually context-dependent. Sears and Funk \"The Role of Self-interest in Social and Political Attitudes\".21 Leonie Huddy \"Group Identity and Social Cohesion\" in David O. Sears Leonie Huddy and Robert Jervis (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology Oxford Oxford University Press 2003 pp. 511-558.22 Lawrence Bobo \"Whites' Opposition to Busing: Symbolic Racism or Realistic Group Conflict?\" Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol. 45 No. 6 (December 1983) pp. 1196-1210, Robert Alan LeVine and Donald Thomas Campbell Ethnocentrism: Theories of Conflict Ethnic Attitudes and Group Behavior New York Wiley 1972.23 Morris P. Fiorina Retrospective Voting in American National Elections New Haven CT Yale University Press 1981, Donald R. Kinder \"Presidents Prosperity and Public Opinion\" Public Opinion Quarterly Vol. 45 No. 1 (Spring 1981) pp. 1-21, Michael Lewis-Beck Economics and Elections: The Major Western Democracies Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press 1988.24 Jack Citrin Donald P. Green Christopher Muste and Cara Wong \"Public Opinion Toward Immigration Reform: The Role of Economic Motivations\" Journal of Politics Vol. 59 No. 3 (August 1997) pp. 858-881.25 Gabel and Whitten \"Economic Conditions Economic Perceptions\".26 Kentmen \"Determinants of Support for EU Membership in Turkey\".27 In fact democratic attitudes are positively related to support for EU membership. Çarkoğlu \"Who Wants Full Membership?\".28 Henri Tajfel Human Groups and Social Categories Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1981, Henry Tajfel and John Turner \"An Integretive Theory of Intergroup Conflict\" in William G. Austin and Stephen Worchel (eds.) The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations Monterey CA Brooks Cole 1979 pp. 33- 48.29 Of course just being a member of a group- such as being female or a citizen of a certain country- is not enough for social identity to have an effect on political attitudes. It is rather the subjective identification with one's groHp(s) or one's sense of belonging that is critical to understanding the political ramifications of group membership since not all group members feel a sense of attachment to their in-group. Leonie Huddy \" From Social to Political Identity: A Critical Examination of Social Identity Theory\" Political Psychology Vol. 22 No. 1 (March 2001) pp. 127-156.30 PaulTaggart \"A Touchstone of Dissent: Euroscepticism in Contemporary Western European Party Systems\" European Journal of Political Research Vol. 33 No. 3 (April 1998) pp. 363-388.31 Hooghe and Marks\"Does Identity or Economic Rationality Drive Public Opinion?\", McLaren Identity Interests and Attitudes to European Integration, Sean Carey \"Undivided Loyalties: Is National Identity an Obstacle to European Integration?\" European Union Politics Vol. 3 No. 4 (December 2002) pp. 387-413.32 Kentmen \"Determinants of Support for EU Membership in Turkey\".33 Çarkoğlu \"Who Wants Full Membership?\".34 Oniş and Yılmaz \"Between Europeanization and Euro-Asianism\" pp. 13-14.35 Bobo \"Whites' Opposition to Busing\".36 Lincoln Quillian \"Prejudice as a Response to Perceived Group Threat: Population Composition and Anti-Immigrant and Racial Prejudice in Europe\" American Sociological Review Vol. 60 No. 4 (August 1995) pp. 586-611. In addition it is a perceived threat to the group that tends to produce the most hostile reactions not a threat to the individual. Thus it is primarily the threat to in-group interests that produces hostility toward other ethnic or racial groups.37 David R. Kinder and Donald O. Sears \"Prejudice and Politics: Symbolic Racism versus Racial Threats to the Good Life\" journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol. 40 No. 3 (March 1981) pp. 414- 431.38 Pazit Ben-Nun Bloom Stanley Feldman and Gallya Lahav \"The Differential Character of Material and Cultural Perceived Threat from Immigration\" Paper presented at the APSA Annual Meeting Boston MA 28-31 August 2008, Ted Brader Nicholas A. Valentino and Elizabeth Suhay \"What Triggers Public Opposition to Immigration? Anxiety Group Cues and Immigration Threat\" American Journal of Political Science Vol. 52 No. 4 (October 2008) pp. 959-978.39 McLaren Identity Interests and Attitudes to European Integration.40 Abusara \"Public Opinion in Turkey on EU\".41 Çarkoğlu and Kentmen \"Diagnosing Trends and Determinants in Public Support for Turkey's EU Membership\".42 For ease of presentation respondents who answered \"don't know\" to both questions were excluded from the analysis and \"neither good nor bad\" answers to the EU membership question are not presented. *43 Michael Lewis-Beck Applied Regression: An Introduction California Sage Publications 1980.44 The six items included in the socioeconomic well-being index were TV DVD player CD music player computer internet connection at home and a car.45 Note that the number of observations declines due to a deletion of missing items.46 Çarkoğlu \"Who Wants Full Membership?\".47 Ziya Öniş \"Conservative Globalists versus Defensive Nationalists: Political Parties and Paradoxes of Europeanisation in Turkey\" in Susannah Verney and Kostas Ifantis (eds.) Turkeys Road to European Union Membership: National Identity and Political Change London and New York Routledge 2009 pp. 35- 48.48 Gabel \"Public Support for European Integration\", Hooghe and Marks \"Does Identity or Economic Rationality Drive Public Opinion?\", Ehin \"Determinants of Public Support for EU Membership\".49 Patterson \"Rising Nationalism and the EU Accession Process\" p. 136.50 Işıl Cerem Cenker \"Turkeys Changing Perceptions of the EU: From Partnership to Patronship\" in Meltem Müftüler-Baç and Yannis A. Stivachtis (eds.) Turkey - European Union Relations: Dilemmas Opportunities and Constraints Lanham MD Lexington Books 2008. | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1300-8641 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2651-3315 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://gcris.yasar.edu.tr/handle/123456789/11229 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://search.trdizin.gov.tr/en/yayin/detay/136724 | |
| dc.language.iso | İngilizce | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Perceptions: Journal of International Affairs | |
| dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess | |
| dc.source | Perceptions: Journal of International Affairs | |
| dc.subject | Siyasi Bilimler | |
| dc.title | Attitudes towards the european union in Turkey: The role of perceived threats and benefits | |
| dc.type | Article | |
| dc.type | Article | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| gdc.author.id | 0000-0003-2961-6426 | |
| gdc.author.institutional | Arikan, Gizem | |
| gdc.coar.type | text::journal::journal article | |
| gdc.description.department | ||
| gdc.description.departmenttemp | [Arikan, Gizem] Yaşar Üniversitesi, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü, İzmir, Türkiye | |
| gdc.description.endpage | 103 | |
| gdc.description.issue | 3 | |
| gdc.description.publicationcategory | Makale - Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi - Kurum Öğretim Elemanı | |
| gdc.description.startpage | 81 | |
| gdc.description.volume | 17 | |
| gdc.identifier.trdizinid | 136724 | |
| gdc.index.type | TR-Dizin | |
| gdc.virtual.author | Arikan, Gizem | |
| oaire.citation.endPage | 103 | |
| oaire.citation.startPage | 81 | |
| publicationissue.issueNumber | 3 | |
| publicationvolume.volumeNumber | 17 | |
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