Affirmation of EU identity reduces perceived national identity threat and increases perceived legitimacy of the European Union

Perceiving the European Union (EU) as a threat to their national identity can cause European citizens to call into question the legitimacy of the EU. Two preliminary studies (N = 303, N = 150) examined Dutch and French samples in different settings: one online and one in a real life setting. The data revealed that national identity threat is strongly related to lower perceived EU legitimacy, regardless of political ideology or type of threat activation. The main study tested whether national identity or EU identity affirmation can reduce national identity threat and increase perceived EU legitimacy, thereby extending group affirmation research to superordinate group contexts. A preregistered online experiment among individuals from twelve EU Member States (N = 904) revealed that affirmation of EU identity significantly reduced national identity threat and increased perceived EU legitimacy. National identity affirmation did not reduce national identity threat. Notably, not strength, but content of national identification moderated these effects.