The idea of finding a useful tool for bringing peace to the earth, understanding the true nature of conflict between human groups and creating harmony amongst living species seems an almost magical and unrealistic aim for science. Yet,like many other scientific disciplines, the field of political psychology has been accumulating scientific observations and knowledge about individuals and human groups around this magical aim to achieve a better future for all. This thesis, then, contributes to this goal through interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives and systematic research, particularly focusing on the relationship between the dynamics in multiple identity processes, inter-group trust, and constructions of various forms of citizenship amongst adolescents in post-conflict societies. In order to provide theoretical, and methodological, contributions that may be relevant for policy and practice, four empirical enquiries were conceived to assess the dynamics of national identities, the role of citizenship and political trust in the identification process, and inter-group relations among young individuals during the peace process in Northern Ireland; and they revealed that even after decades of the peace process, 1) identification with classic national identities is strongly associated with out-group distrust. The newly-emerging superordinate national identity, Northern Irish, has become popular among youths in the social climate of the post Good Friday Agreement; 2) endorsement of this new identity leads to increasing out-group political trust, which turns into positive inter-group trust; these relationships however depended on the degree of civic citizenship acquired. 3) In the context of post-conflict transformation, the everyday life of individuals in mixed environments, where relative group status is balanced, impacts on the development of civic citizenship and positive inter-group relations. In this transformation process, 4) the formation of a superordinate social identity (in this case Northern Irish) is not necessarily based on the similarity of group members; but could be formed by perceptions of diversity of in-group membership instead. Overall, I contended that the future of intergroup relations in this complex socio-political context of post-conflict Northern Ireland, intergroup attitudes should be better understood within a theoretical framework embodying issues of multiple identities. citizenship orientation and political socialisation of young generations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:695310 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Çoymak, Ahmet |
| Publisher | Queen's University Belfast |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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