Explicit Tolerance and Implicit Exclusion

A Study on National Identity in Sweden

Bibliographic Data

ID24229891
AuthorsFilip Olsson (0000-0001-9888-071X, Department of Sociology Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden)
Year2026
Volume32
Issue3
Pages606-622
Publication date2026-07-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNations and Nationalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1345-5078 • E-ISSN: 1469-8129
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/nana.70053
OpenAlexW7125710099
LanguageEN
References cited80

While people in many Western countries report increasingly tolerant and inclusive attitudes, minorities continue to face considerable, and in some cases growing, discrimination and exclusion. In this paper, I propose that the gap may stem from a discrepancy between explicit attitudes and more automatic, implicit attitudes. Most people may want to be inclusive and tolerant, but implicitly harbour more exclusionary views of belonging and national identity. To survey potential differences between explicit and implicit attitudes, I fielded a survey consisting of 217 Swedish participants who completed both explicit and implicit measures of perceived ‘Swedishness’. Participants were asked to evaluate four distinct minority groups: individuals with Norwegian, Finnish, Syrian or Bosnian backgrounds. The results reveal significant differences between explicit and implicit perceptions, as well as between the different groups. All groups were explicitly perceived as Swedish, but only individuals with a Norwegian background were implicitly perceived as Swedish. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for research on Swedishness, national boundaries and nationalism.

Bosnian immigrants · Discrimination · explicit attitudes · Finnish immigrants · implicit attitudes · Minority Groups · national borders · National identity · Nationalism · Norwegian immigrants · Sweden · Swedishness · Syrian immigrants · tolerance · European Cultural and National Identity · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Social and Intergroup Psychology

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