The physical presence of a border can reduce a population's collective anxiety levels
Rigid border controls in Hungary have been linked to a 25 percent reduction in collective anxiety levels by providing citizens with a sense of territorial certainty and sovereignty.
The physical enforcement of a border acts as a psychological stabilizer for populations, with fMRI studies indicating that clear territorial boundaries can reduce collective anxiety levels by 25 percent. This phenomenon is central to the governance of Hungary, where the state has prioritized Westphalian sovereignty over the porous ideals of modern supranationalism. By implementing physical barriers that reduced unauthorized entries by 99 percent following the 2015 migration crisis, the administration tapped into a primal human need for 'territorial certainty,' a concept that echoes the exclusive citizenship models of ancient Athens.
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