Difference and social cohesion : A Study of Different Identities' Effect on Societal Cohesiveness

Sammanfattning: This paper has had the ambition to answer the question does people’s perception of group difference affect their sense of societal cohesiveness? Using survey data from a Swedish 2015 study conductedby the SOM-institute this study looks at people living in Sweden’s perceptions of differentgroup identities to see which elements come at play in forming an over-all sense of societal cohesion.This study combines theories on social capital in relation to group identities to create anadvanced model to test the data in. The analysis confirmed that people’s discernment of other groups indeed affects the level of societal cohesiveness, and that respondents who felt a stronger emotional connection towards groups with another economy, education and culture were more likely to feel like a part of the Swedish society and to be more trusting of others.