National identity as a lens on social inequality: a cross-national analysis of support for native employment priority

Introduction: Public support for restricting immigrants’ access to welfare and employment—often described as welfare or labour market chauvinism—has become a salient political issue across Europe. This article investigates how symbolic boundaries of national identity shape these exclusionary preferences, focusing on the belief that native citizens should be prioritised over immigrants when jobs are scarce. Methods: Inspired by the Verkuyten’s Group Identity Lens model (2009, 2018), it tests a structural equation model, which links ethnic and civic conceptions of nationhood to support for native employment priority through perceived economic and cultural threats and intergroup distrust. Using data from the 2017 European Values Study and structural equation modelling across seven European countries (France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Portugal), the study tests two core hypotheses: the nativist spiral, whereby ethnic-majoritarian identity fuels exclusion via threat and distrust; and two-faced civility, which suggests civic identity can reduce distrust but also heighten threat perceptions. Results: Results confirm the strong and consistent role of ethnic identity in driving exclusionary attitudes. Civic identity shows more ambivalent effects, varying by national context. Discussion: These findings highlight how both forms of national identity can act as symbolic filters through which inequalities are justified and solidarity is selectively applied.