Rita's Political Psychology Blog

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs assisted me in conducting and analyzing the survey results. The sense of belonging, identity, and safety are factors that drive the actions behind nationalism or patriotism. It is the individual decision on how to demonstrate these needs. The individual will consider to what extent they need this and if they will be affected and influenced by certain groups. There is definitely a tribal aspect in both nationalism and patriotism. In patriotism celebrating national holidays like Independence Day can be very empowering to Americans in way that it makes them feel like they belong and that unity in diversity is essential.  In nationalism there are different types of manifestation, concerning the ethnic one which most people know of, can result in violence and extreme polarization of sides. Both of the concepts include Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and tribalism.

Nationalism is not a new concept. The manifestation of nationalism has been apparent all throughout the worlds history. The ways people act on this sense of identity and belonging can sway either way fairly easily. Patriotic acts are not publicized as much as ugly manifestations of nationalism are and that is because people like to see violence rather than peace. Due to this people cannot differentiate the two and identify the fine line between them. I have seen nationalism go very wrong in my home country. There is a clear difference between nationalism and patriotism and people would rather be violent and irrational than be proud and understanding of the other side. That is why I chose to research the topic because people need to know the difference before the assumptions get the best of them. I started with researching the different events in which either nationalism or patriotism have been demonstrated and how people can identify them easily. I then went in more depth with psycholo...

Rita Abdel-Malek Professor Andrews PSC 2410  29 November 2019 Research Paper  Introduction  The definition of nationalism and patriotism have been misused for the wrong purposes. Specifically in the 21st century the implications of each concept has been twisted and utilized solely to categorize and polarize people; radical nationalists and people who celebrate national holidays like ; Veterans Day, Independence Day, Memorial Day, etc. This research project was conducted to see how people viewed certain instances as either nationalistic or patriotic. In the modern century of Obama and Trump presidencies these concepts have been confused and majority people view on or the other as the same. This research is intended to delve into the psyche of everyday people, politically active or not. People have the innate need and want to feel like they belong and are mentally and physically safe. To achieve this, my group and I conducted a survey to analyze how people v...

The definitions of  nationalism and patriotism have been misinterpreted by many people, including me. Nationalism is defined as "identification with one's own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations" whereas patriotism is "the quality of being patriotic; devotion to and vigorous support for one's country". I believe nationalism is not toxic and I do think that the United States should be nationalistic because we are a superpower. Although  that stamen becomes controversial when it comes to the U.S. not getting involved or aiding other countries that are in need. Patriotism is not necessarily toxic, but the radical side of it can turn into extensive nationalism. 

Like everything there is a positive and a negative side. Social Media is a fast growing platform that is accessible, dangerous, and open. Social media allows the expansion of relationships and boundless communication. This platform has created a window for anonymous 24/7 activity that has no geographic limitations. Although this is beneficial in many ways, it is manipulated by people who turn it into a dangerous place, also known as the dark web. Due to anonymity, people can do and say whatever they want without consequence and with influential young users it can be detrimental. People can put out false information and create a frenzy upon people. Majority of internet users are youth and they extremely influential, making them prone to believing most of the things they hear. And because they are addicted to social media, that is their only source of information. False information can spread like wildfire on the internet and it does not allow for real information to be presented often.

After reading "Why We Believe Fake News" by BBC, the idea of people receiving their information from specifically selected sources is reinforced. I believe that people believe and know what they want to believe and know. An ignorant person can have impulse opinions and if they hear someone trying to "inform" them about a topic, they are more likely to believe that person. If a person has little  to no awarness of something and there is sufficient information provided, then the person is more prone to believe that information is correct. In the era of social media there is an abundance of false and true information, but the false information is being emphasized on more accessible platforms to the impressionable unaware people and are not filtered out. People are less likely to read a long article with a bunch of information, numbers, and a vernacular they do not understand, than to read a short article with an eye catching headline. This is an epidemic. It is not...