Measuring Individual Identity: Experimental Evidence Alexander Kuo Center for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences Juan March Institute
[email protected] Yotam Margalit Department of Political Science Columbia University
[email protected] Abstract What determines the identity category people feel they most belong to? What is the political significance of one’s proclaimed identity? Recent research addresses this question using surveys that explicitly ask individuals about their identity. Yet little is known about the nature of the attachments conveyed in responses to identity questions. We conduct a set of studies and experiments that investigate these reported attachments. Our findings suggest that: (1) the purported identity captured in survey responses varies significantly within subjects over time; (2) changes in people’s primary identity can be highly influenced by situational triggers; (3) changes in purported self-identity do not imply a corresponding change in policy preferences. Our results are drawn from three studies that vary in terms of design, country sample, and research instrument. The findings have implications for research on identity choice, as well as on the use of surveys in studying the role of identity in comparative politics. 1 ―We have spoken to many people in this country [X] and they have all described themselves in different ways. Some people describe themselves in terms of their language, religion, race, and others describe themselves in economic terms, such as working class, middle class, or a farmer. Besides being [a citizen of X], which specific group do you feel you belong to first and foremost?‖ [Afrobarometer Surveys, 1999-2002] Introduction What determines the identity category people feel they belong to? What is the political significance of one’s proclaimed identity? The answers to these questions are important for understanding phenomena such as policy preferences, social cleavages, and perhaps even political conflict.