Rita's Political Psychology Blog

Student Researcher Notre Dame de Namur University  Collaborated and facilitated a team research project  Researched in depth on the both nationalism and patriotism  Created a culmination of specific diverse questions for our survey  Surveyed multiple different demographics Allowed independent and collaborative team analysis  Presented hypothesis and analysis

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...