Self and Nation: A Comparison of Americans’ Beliefs Before and After 9/11

This study compared the responses of Americans surveyed before (N = 198) and after (N = 208) the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in regard to their beliefs about their personal worlds, their American national group, and their perceptions of the American national group’s shared beliefs about itself. Examining the five belief domains highlighted by Eidelson and Eidelson (2003)—that is, vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness—we found that (a) compared to the pre-9/11 sample, post-9/11 respondents reported stronger group-level beliefs or perceptions about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, and superiority and a weaker group-level belief or perception about helplessness and (b) at the personal world level, post-9/11 respondents scored higher on beliefs about vulnerability and lower on beliefs about injustice and distrust than their pre-9/11 counterparts.