Collective sense of ownership as to own country and inter-national tensions: a source of confrontation or a factor for unity

Abstract

The relevance of the paper is due to the possibility of inter-national tensions escalation and strengthening the diversity of foreign policy orientations of Ukraine, where along with the Ukrainian national majority there are quite large, other national communities. Such threat may be closely linked to the actualization of national identity and collective ownership in the absence of the joint national idea.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the phenomenon of collective sense of ownership regarding one's country as a factor of intra-group cohesion of citizens and strengthening of inter-national confrontation within the state. Reflecting the psychology of the concepts of "we" and "our", it is shown that the collective sense of ownership arises in the interactive dynamics. The structure of the collective sense of ownership of the country and the factors of its formation are substantiated. The socio-psychological determinants of the formation, actualization or de-actualization of the collective sense of ownership as to own country are determined. Its close connection with the level of formation and manifestation of civic identity is substantiated.

Based on the results of international focus groups, which included masters and doctoral candidates from Norway, Germany, Ukraine, Georgia, Latvia etc. (N = 23), it is determined that a high level of supranational (in this case European) identity is formed under conditions of stable national development, citizens' sense of security regarding the integrity of the country and the established civic identity. Citizens of countries that feel threatened by the loss of territories or actually have such facts (Georgia, Ukraine), instead demonstrate a high level of actualization of collective ownership of their country, willingness to protect it, defend its national identities such as language, symbols, traditions and more. It is shown that the actualized collective sense of ownership of the country, on the one hand, can be a source of unity of like-minded people who form a group within the country. On the other hand, it can intensify confrontation, both within the country (provided that the civic identity and common national idea are not formed) and with the representatives of other countries in the international arena.

The practical significance is the possibility of using the research results to develop programs for the formation of responsible citizenship based on the development and actualization of a collective sense of ownership.