From Organized Germans, Romantic Italians, and English Dandies to Christian, Wealthy, and Democratic Europeans

This contribution deals with stereotypes as a potential vector of the construction of a European « we-feeling » by proposing a state of the art and inviting to reconsider stereotypes’ integrative potential. On the basis of a framework developed by social psychology, we propose hypotheses on the articulation between stereotypes and affects and on the possible contribution of stereotypes to affective bonds between Europeans. By crossing results of several empirical studies, we draw an illustrative map of European stereotypes and discuss their affective implications in the light of social psychology.