The Intergenerational Transmission of European Identity: The Role of Gender and Discussion within Families

• Published in: Journal of common market studies Vol. 52; no. 5; pp. 1103 - 1119
• Main Authors: Quintelier, Ellen, Verhaegen, Soetkin, Hooghe, Marc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-09-2014
• Subjects: Accession; Adolescents; Belgium; Citizens; Conversation; EU membership; Europe; European integration; European Union; Families & family life; Gender differences; Gender roles; Identity; National identity; Parents; Social Identity; Studies; Transmission mechanism; Belgium
• ISSN: 0021-9886; 1468-5965
• DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12129

This article shows that while European identity tends to be weak among Europeans, a significant transmission of European identity occurs between parents and their children. Belgian adolescents' conversations with their mothers about the European Union strengthen this transmission process. This indicates that European identity is not a superficial phenomenon, but that it is integrated into the social identity of families. Various authors have already stated that the project of European integration requires development of a stronger sense of European identity among citizens of the European Union Member States. Using insights from social identity theory, it is demonstrated in the paper that salient social identities are being transmitted within families. Analyses of the Parent–Child Socialization Study, conducted among 2,085 Belgian father–mother–child triads, back this conclusion.