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Scots feel blue in presence of Saltire

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By John Glenday, Reporter

June 11, 2012 | 1 min read

Scots economic optimism is left flagging when presented with an image of their national flag, the Saltire, according to intriguing new research – but their optimism returns when confronted with a Union Jack.

The University of Strathclyde found that the blue ensign provoked negative feelings about the economic situation north of the border, findings which researchers link to a subconscious fear of “going it alone”.

Researchers were keen to stress that their sample of 10,000 BBC politics viewers was not representative of the population as a whole and there was no definite interpretation of their findings.

Nevertheless Prof Laura Cram, who led the research, said: “What was really interesting was when you are triggering national identity, which is traditionally associated with your gut instinct, it was also affecting how you looked at the economy."

Interestingly English respondents also responded negatively to images of their own flag, The St Georges Cross, although the effect was less pronounced.

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