Language Cues and Perceptions of Nationalism

Abstract How do people respond to symbols related to nationalism, and does having political context matter? We argue that nationalist symbols influence perceptions when in a political context. Leveraging that the Serbian language can be rendered in Cyrillic and Latin, and Cyrillic is associated with nationalism, we examine the use of linguistic symbols in Serbia. Using social media data, we demonstrate that politicians employ Cyrillic to discuss topics traditionally associated with nationalism. Then, based on a pre-registered survey experiment, we show that exposure to Cyrillic absent political context does not alter nationalist attitudes but that respondents exposed to a politician’s message in Cyrillic viewed that politician as more nationalist. Our findings speak to the power of nationalist symbols, demonstrating that said symbols are powerful even when associated with subtle, language-based manipulations. Moreover, they have broad implications for how politicians signal their political beliefs, including how they work to associate themselves with everyday symbols.