Why inclusion in a common ingroup, like the EU, isn't felt equally by everyone

What is it about?

People often assume that being welcomed into a larger, beneficial group works the same way for everyone, but this research shows it does not. Across four studies with over 1,600 participants in Kosovo, we examined how Kosovo Albanians respond to news that their country either would or would not be joining the European Union. We looked at two things: first, whether how strongly someone identifies with their own ethnic group changes how they react to that news, and second, whether wanting to belong to the EU in the first place makes a difference. Studies 1 to 3 found that participants who identified weakly with their ethnic group felt less discriminated against, less wronged, and more fully human when told their country would join the EU, compared to when it would not. Participants who identified strongly with their ethnic group showed little change either way, their sense of being treated unfairly stayed about the same regardless of the news. Study 4 added a twist: even people with a strong ethnic identity responded positively to inclusion if they personally wanted to belong to the EU. Feelings of being collectively wronged were the key mechanism running through all of these effects.

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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Institutions and policymakers often assume that extending membership or inclusion to a group will automatically reduce feelings of unfair treatment, but this research suggests that assumption does not always hold. The findings, drawn from a context with real political stakes, the long and often disappointing path certain populations have faced toward EU accession, show that messages of inclusion mainly help people who do not strongly identify with their ethnic group. For people who do identify strongly, inclusion only helps if it speaks to a genuine personal desire to belong, rather than arriving as a policy decision handed down from outside. This matters directly for EU enlargement communication and for any institution trying to ease intergroup tension through offers of unity: a single message of welcome is unlikely to land the same way for everyone.