Anti-Americanism in Europe: Theoretical Mechanisms and Empirical Evidence

Liebe, Ulf; Beyer, Heiko (2014). Anti-Americanism in Europe: Theoretical Mechanisms and Empirical Evidence. European sociological review, 30(1), pp. 90-106. Oxford University Press 10.1093/esr/jct024

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One of the most popular explanations for post-9/11 anti-Americanism argues that resentment against America and Americans is mainly a function of the US government’s unpopular actions. The present article challenges this interpretation: first, it argues that neither the vitality of the resentment in times when the United States had no influence in the respective parts of the world nor its recent radical manifestations are accounted for in a political reductionist framework. In fact, specific traditions of anti-Americanism have an influence on the negative attitudes observed today, as a comparison between Britain, France, Germany, and Poland reveals. Second, this article suggests an alternative theoretical approach. Anti-Americanism can be explained by two basic mechanisms: it functions as a strategy to project denied and disliked self-concepts onto an external object, and it offers an interpretation frame for complex social processes that allows to reduce cognitive dissonance. Multivariate analyses based on empirical data collected in the Pew surveys of 2002 and 2007 show the fruitfulness of our theoretical approach.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Institute of Sociology

UniBE Contributor:

Liebe, Ulf, Beyer, Heiko

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology

ISSN:

0266-7215

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Mahboob Hasan

Date Deposited:

26 May 2014 08:27

Last Modified:

20 Dec 2022 10:38

Publisher DOI:

10.1093/esr/jct024

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.45293

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/45293

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