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Social representations of European history by the European youth: A cross-country comparison

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Bouchat, Pierre
Cabecinhas, Rosa
Licata, Laurent
Charton, Maxence
Chryssochoou, Xenia
Delouvée, Sylvain
Erb, Hans-Peter
Facca, Léo
Flassbeck, Christine
Haas, Valérie
Kalampalikis, Nikos
Franc, Renata
Mari, Silvia
Pavlovic, Tomislav
Petrović, Nebojša
Raudsepp, Maaris
Sá, Alberto
Sakki, Inari
Sekerdej, Maciek
Taranczewski, Julien
Telle, Nils-Torge
Valentim, Joaquim Pires
Wenzel, Aude
Wnuk, Anna
Hilton, Denis

Abstract / Description

The present manuscript examines the way young Europeans represent Europe’s history. A study conducted in 11 European countries (N = 1406 students in social sciences) shows that the characters considered most important in the history of Europe are mostly men linked either to WW2, authoritarianism, or conquests and empires. Although these appear later in the rankings and despite some imbalance between countries, Europe’s history is also associated with religious figures, artists, scientists, and philosophers. These results show that the representations of the history of Europe currently shared by young Europeans correspond, in part, to historical narratives based on a specific set of experiences, events, and values supposedly common to the peoples of Europe that were promoted by European elites throughout the integration process. Further, these results suggest that beyond the negative narrative of war and the crimes of totalitarianism, the history of Europe is also embodied by positive characters transcending national boundaries and associated with a set of key elements of the EU identity: democracy, tolerance, solidarity, humanism, and the Enlightenment. Finally, we also highlight the near-total absence of characters unambiguously related to colonization and, especially, decolonization, and a strong overall under-representation of women.

Keyword(s)

charters collective memory Europe history social identity social representations Europe histoire identité sociale mémoire collective récit fondateur représentations sociales Mitos de fundação memória coletiva Europa história identidade social representações sociais

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2023-12-05

Journal title

Journal of Social and Political Psychology

Volume

11

Issue

2

Page numbers

606–622

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Bouchat, P., Cabecinhas, R., Licata, L., Charton, M., Chryssochoou, X., Delouvée, S., Erb, H., Facca, L., Flassbeck, C., Haas, V., Kalampalikis, N., Franc, R., Mari, S., Pavlovic, T., Petrović, N., Raudsepp, M., Sá, A., Sakki, I., Sekerdej, M.,...Hilton, D. (2023). Social representations of European history by the European youth: A cross-country comparison. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 11(2), 606-622. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.9805
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Bouchat, Pierre
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Cabecinhas, Rosa
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Licata, Laurent
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Charton, Maxence
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Chryssochoou, Xenia
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Delouvée, Sylvain
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Erb, Hans-Peter
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Facca, Léo
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Flassbeck, Christine
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Haas, Valérie
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Kalampalikis, Nikos
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Franc, Renata
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Mari, Silvia
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Pavlovic, Tomislav
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Petrović, Nebojša
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Raudsepp, Maaris
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Sá, Alberto
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Sakki, Inari
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Sekerdej, Maciek
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Taranczewski, Julien
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Telle, Nils-Torge
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Valentim, Joaquim Pires
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Wenzel, Aude
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Wnuk, Anna
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Hilton, Denis
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2024-03-19T11:02:00Z
  • Made available on
    2024-03-19T11:02:00Z
  • Date of first publication
    2023-12-05
  • Abstract / Description
    The present manuscript examines the way young Europeans represent Europe’s history. A study conducted in 11 European countries (N = 1406 students in social sciences) shows that the characters considered most important in the history of Europe are mostly men linked either to WW2, authoritarianism, or conquests and empires. Although these appear later in the rankings and despite some imbalance between countries, Europe’s history is also associated with religious figures, artists, scientists, and philosophers. These results show that the representations of the history of Europe currently shared by young Europeans correspond, in part, to historical narratives based on a specific set of experiences, events, and values supposedly common to the peoples of Europe that were promoted by European elites throughout the integration process. Further, these results suggest that beyond the negative narrative of war and the crimes of totalitarianism, the history of Europe is also embodied by positive characters transcending national boundaries and associated with a set of key elements of the EU identity: democracy, tolerance, solidarity, humanism, and the Enlightenment. Finally, we also highlight the near-total absence of characters unambiguously related to colonization and, especially, decolonization, and a strong overall under-representation of women.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Bouchat, P., Cabecinhas, R., Licata, L., Charton, M., Chryssochoou, X., Delouvée, S., Erb, H., Facca, L., Flassbeck, C., Haas, V., Kalampalikis, N., Franc, R., Mari, S., Pavlovic, T., Petrović, N., Raudsepp, M., Sá, A., Sakki, I., Sekerdej, M.,...Hilton, D. (2023). Social representations of European history by the European youth: A cross-country comparison. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 11(2), 606-622. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.9805
    en_US
  • ISSN
    2195-3325
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/9779
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.14320
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.9805
  • Is related to
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.13815
  • Is related to
    https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/VXCQ5
  • Keyword(s)
    charters
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    collective memory
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    Europe
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    history
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    social identity
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    social representations
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    Europe
    fr_FR
  • Keyword(s)
    histoire
    fr_FR
  • Keyword(s)
    identité sociale
    fr_FR
  • Keyword(s)
    mémoire collective
    fr_FR
  • Keyword(s)
    récit fondateur
    fr_FR
  • Keyword(s)
    représentations sociales
    fr_FR
  • Keyword(s)
    Mitos de fundação
    pt-PT
  • Keyword(s)
    memória coletiva
    pt-PT
  • Keyword(s)
    Europa
    pt-PT
  • Keyword(s)
    história
    pt-PT
  • Keyword(s)
    identidade social
    pt-PT
  • Keyword(s)
    representações sociais
    pt-PT
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Social representations of European history by the European youth: A cross-country comparison
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    2
  • Journal title
    Journal of Social and Political Psychology
  • Page numbers
    606–622
  • Volume
    11
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record
    en_US