Individualistic and Collectivistic Orientations: Examining the Relationship between Ethnicity and National Attachment in Ghana

Abstract

Ethnicity is regarded as the greatest threat to national attachment by both politicians and scholars. However, ethnicity is only one of the many forms of identification which could potentially clash with national attachment. This study therefore examines the relationship between ethnicity and national attachment by asking a general question: what is the impact of alternative group loyalties on national attachment? To answer this question, I develop a measure of national attachment drawing on several sentiments oriented towards the state. Using a survey of 996 university students, I find varying degrees of intensity of the selected identities. Specifically, while descriptive analysis supports recent reports of the declining salience of ethnicity in Ghana, inferential analysis contradicts theoretical expectations that the increasing salience of ethnicity would negatively affect national attachment. Conceptually, it is possible to map the various identities onto a collectivistic-individualistic scale. Individualistic orientations undermine national attachment, while collectivistic orientations boost it. I argue that rather than being contradictory impulses, ethnicity and national attachment are both underlain by the same collectivistic orientation, pointing to the importance of social rootedness. I deploy qualitative and historical data to give substance and texture to these findings.