Contestation but not Euroscepticism: economic and security concerns and the fear of losing national traditions in Georgia

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the role of utilitarian, political, and cultural/identity-based factors of Euroscepticism on a nationwide representative sample of ethnic Georgians. Hierarchical multiple logistic regression showed that for ethnic Georgians, utilitarian factors are the strongest predictors of support for the EU integration, followed by cultural/identity and political variables, supporting the rational choice theory. These predictors are, in turn, anteceded by popular perceptions of the EU in Georgia. Mediation analysis revealed that the perception of the EU as a source of peace and security precedes the hope for an increase in national security with its support (political predictor). Likewise, the perception of the EU as a champion of economic development antecedes the hope for reduced poverty in Georgia (utilitarian predictor). On the other hand, the perception of the EU as a threat to national traditions does not predict Euroscepticism. We elaborate on this result through an examination of the current political atmosphere of Georgia, where we determine that fears of losing national traditions are outweighed by fears of economic and political insecurity.KEYWORDS: Euroscepticismutilitarian, political and cultural/identity-based predictorsrational choice theoryperceptions of the EU Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Geolocation informationThe study was conducted in Georgia.Notes1. A new ombudsman was elected in 2023.Additional informationNotes on contributorsNino JavakhishviliNino Javakhishvili is a full professor of psychology at the School of Arts and Sciences and director of D. Uznadze Institute of Psychology at Ilia State University. She is widely published locally and internationally and her research and teaching focus are intergroup relations, identity formation and gender equality, among others.Nino ButsashviliNino Butsashvili is a PhD candidate at School of Arts and Sciences and a research assistant at D. Uznadze Institute of Psychology at Ilia State University. She is involved in several research projects, including studies which focus on intergroup relations and identity formations.