With US or Against US: Testing Theories of Intergroup Relations with Cross-National Public Opinion Data.

This paper explores the relationship between theories of intergroup relations and cross-national public opinion data. The Social Identification Theory was was tested through regression analyses of aggregated cross-national opinion data on an indicator of national economic development and other national characteristics. Findings suggest that ingroup favoritism can be found at the cross-national level. Higher levels of development are associated with higher evaluation of one’s own country relative to the world. This relationship is mediated by opinions of how future generations will fare; that is, as belief in a better future increases, evaluation of one’s own country relative to the world likewise increases. Given this contingent relationship, the corollary theoretical assertion of the Social Identification Theory as regards group boundaries is supported. This paper makes the overarching argument that theories of intergroup relations should be considered as frameworks that the United States can use in carrying out cross-national research towards crafting its foreign policy. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]