IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v53y2015i2p330-348.html

Rethinking the ‘Erasmus Effect’ on European Identity

Author

Listed:
  • Kristine Mitchell

Abstract

The Erasmus programme for university student exchange was developed, in part, to foster European identity among its participants, who complete a short-term sojourn studying in another European country. However, two previous panel studies of the impact of Erasmus participation on European identity find no significant ‘Erasmus effect’. This article analyzes new survey data – a novel panel study of 1,729 students from 28 universities in six countries – and finds the opposite: participation in an Erasmus exchange is significantly and positively related to changes in both identification as European and identification with Europe. Furthermore, the data underscore the significance of cross-border interaction and cognitive mobilization for explaining identity change: transnational contact during the exchange is positively related to change in both dimensions of European identity, and increased knowledge of Europe and attention to European news over the course of the exchange is associated with enhanced identification with Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristine Mitchell, 2015. "Rethinking the ‘Erasmus Effect’ on European Identity," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 330-348, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:53:y:2015:i:2:p:330-348
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/jcms.12152
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laura Cram, 2012. "Does the EU Need a Navel? Implicit and Explicit Identification with the European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 71-86, January.
    2. Sara B. Hobolt, 2012. "Citizen Satisfaction with Democracy in the European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(S1), pages 88-105, March.
    3. Theresa Kuhn, 2012. "Why Educational Exchange Programmes Miss Their Mark: Cross-Border Mobility, Education and European Identity," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(6), pages 994-1010, November.
    4. Arend Lijphart, 1964. "Tourist Traffic And Integration Potential," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 251-262, March.
    5. Iain Wilson, 2011. "What Should We Expect of ‘Erasmus Generations’?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5), pages 1113-1140, September.
    6. Kaina, Viktoria & Karolewski, Ireneusz Pawel, . "EU governance and European identity," Living Reviews in European Governance (LREG), Institute for European integration research (EIF).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sybille Luhmann, 2017. "A Multi-Level Approach to European Identity: Does Integration Foster Identity?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(6), pages 1360-1379, November.
    2. Dolls, Mathias, 2024. "An unemployment re-insurance scheme for the eurozone? Stabilizing and redistributive effects," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Sarah Ciaglia & Clemens Fuest & Friedrich Heinemann, 2018. "What a feeling?! How to promote ‘European Identity’," EconPol Policy Reports 9, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    4. Athina Karvounaraki & Sumathi Subramaniam & Hristo Hristov & Tauno Ojala & Koen Jonkers & Jeroen Huisman & Xabier Goenaga, 2018. "Mapping of European transnational collaborative partnerships in higher education," JRC Research Reports JRC111663, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Cristina López-Duarte & Jane F. Maley & Marta M. Vidal-Suárez, 2021. "Main challenges to international student mobility in the European arena," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(11), pages 8957-8980, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christof Van Mol & Helga AG de Valk & Leo van Wissen, 2015. "Falling in love with(in) Europe: European bi-national love relationships, European identification and transnational solidarity," European Union Politics, , vol. 16(4), pages 469-489, December.
    2. Gabriele Prati & Elvira Cicognani & Davide Mazzoni, 2019. "Cross-border friendships and collective European identity: A longitudinal study," European Union Politics, , vol. 20(4), pages 649-669, December.
    3. Cristina López-Duarte & Jane F. Maley & Marta M. Vidal-Suárez, 2021. "Main challenges to international student mobility in the European arena," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(11), pages 8957-8980, November.
    4. Nils Steiner & Ruxanda Berlinschi & Etienne Farvaque & Jan Fidrmuc & Philipp Harms & Alexander Mihailov & Michael Neugart & Piotr Stanek, 2022. "Rallying around the EU Flag: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine and Attitudes toward European Integration," CESifo Working Paper Series 9883, CESifo.
    5. Ellen Quintelier & Soetkin Verhaegen & Marc Hooghe, 2014. "The Intergenerational Transmission of European Identity: The Role of Gender and Discussion within Families," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 1103-1119, September.
    6. Sarah Ciaglia & Clemens Fuest & Friedrich Heinemann, 2018. "What a feeling?! How to promote ‘European Identity’," EconPol Policy Reports 9, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    7. Dolls, Mathias, 2024. "An unemployment re-insurance scheme for the eurozone? Stabilizing and redistributive effects," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    8. Gabriela Borz & Heinz Brandenburg & Carlos Mendez, 2022. "The impact of EU Cohesion Policy on European identity: A comparative analysis of EU regions," European Union Politics, , vol. 23(2), pages 259-281, June.
    9. Anastasiadou, Constantia & Pilcher, Nick & Gutu, Mavis & Panyik, Emese, 2023. "EU tourism and student identities in a pre-BREXIT UK," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    10. Meta Novak & Damjan Lajh, 2025. "How European Do Young Slovenians Feel?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    11. Aleberto Alesina & Guido Tabellini & Francesco Trebbi, 2017. "Is Europe an Optimal Political Area?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(1 (Spring), pages 169-234.
    12. Soetkin Verhaegen & Marc Hooghe & Ellen Quintelier, 2014. "European Identity and Support for European Integration: A Matter of Perceived Economic Benefits?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 295-314, May.
    13. Erica Poma & Barbara Pistoresi, 2024. "Government Support Measures, Trust in Institutions and Effects on Satisfaction with Democracy During the COVID-19 Outbreak," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 66(2), pages 355-387, June.
    14. Georgia Panagiotidou, 2025. "A Behavioral Algorithm for European Integration: Insights from Youth Attitudes Across the EU," Societies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-30, September.
    15. Joan Costa-i-Font & Frank Cowell, 2015. "European Identity and Redistributive Preferences," CESifo Working Paper Series 5412, CESifo.
    16. Christoffer Kølvraa, 2016. "European Fantasies: On the EU's Political Myths and the Affective Potential of Utopian Imaginaries for European Identity," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 169-184, January.
    17. repec:agr:journl:v:3(604):y:2015:i:3(604):p:101-110 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Julie Hassing Nielsen, 2016. "Personality and Euroscepticism: The Impact of Personality on Attitudes Towards the EU," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 1175-1198, September.
    19. Monika Lukasik-Duszynska, 2014. "E-Communication. European Union and its citizens," SERMED 2014 Conference Papers p23, Instituto Universitario de Análisis Económico y Social.
    20. Gustavo Gouvêa Maciel & Luís de Sousa, 2018. "Legal Corruption and Dissatisfaction with Democracy in the European Union," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 653-674, November.
    21. Ronja Sczepanski, 2023. "European by action: How voting reshapes nested identities," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(4), pages 751-770, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:53:y:2015:i:2:p:330-348. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.