Analysis of the Impact of National and Ethnic Identity on Political Attitudes (Case Study of Citizens of Khoy City)

Investigating the political attitude of citizens is an issue that has a special place in our society; Attitudes are the basis for the formation of behaviors and actions of individuals. On the other hand, the issue of the importance of finding national and ethnic identities in the age of globalization is the most important issue in political sociology. In this regard, it seems that one of the factors that can influence people's political attitude is their national and ethnic identities. Given that experimental data has not been provided in this regard, it is necessary to measure the overview of this issue.The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of national and ethnic identities on the political attitudes of individuals. The statistical population of this research is Khoy city in West Azarbaijan province, which was studied by 398 inhabitants of this city by quota sampling method. The results of the research show that, firstly, according to the Mead views, there is a difference between national identity and ethnic identities, not contradictions, but rather a positive relationship, each of which goes up by reinforcing another's identity. Secondly, although these two types of identities are well-matched, their effects on the political attitudes of citizens are different. In this regard, the findings suggest that while increasing national identity tends to bring citizens closer to fundamentalism, ethnic identity reinforces the likelihood of individuals turning into reformist political groups in the community.