Skip to main content

Research Write Up

Rita Abdel-Malek
Professor Andrews
PSC 2410 
29 November 2019
Research Paper 
  1. Introduction 
    1. 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 view patriotism and nationalism.
  2. Review of Literature
With the decrease in factual information in current political activity, most people mistake the definitions of nationalism and patriotism. Nationalism is the “identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interest of other nations” whereas Patriotism is the “quality of being patriotic, devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country”. These two similar, yet very different concepts, can be misunderstood with one another. The sense of identity and loyalty are immersed in both of them, but the way it is engaged in political psychology is contrasting. 
People extort and change concepts constantly and places like the United States have defined nationalism in their own way. Nationalism has always played a role throughout this country’s history, but under the Trump administration the concept has surrounded race. Carpenter (2019) describes the manifestation of nationalism has focused on the exclusion of other races than Caucasian and has turned into violent identity. The white nationalism has been enforced in current times the idea has acted in the Charlottesville rally or in the Pittsburgh shooter’s motives.  Carpenter describes how patriotism can easily be turned into nationalism. When the motive of a person to improve their nation goes from improving the whole to just a specific racial demographic, then that is when it becomes toxic. Patriotism allows encouragement for Americans to unite under the country’s unique diversity and creates an increase in political participation in government. It is up to the people living in this country to choose whether they think their own identity can be strengthened and given importance in diversity.
There are two types of nationalism - one grounded in claims about the equal rights of all citizens and the other is ethically based and exclusionary. Derbyshire (2019) gives examples of the two types in action; one is Trump’s campaign and Berlin. The era of  “American first” and promises to make the country “great again” have strengthened the liberals into thinking they are being prioritized over other demographics in the country, Trump’s rhetoric insinuates that he prioritizes the white middle class population. It creates that “we are all in this together” toxicity and superiority that is twisted. The saying can either create unity or extreme polarization depending on the individual who is thinking that. Derbyshire refers to examples of liberal and civic nationalism such as Berlin. The forms of nationalism mentioned earlier can more or less be fit into Berlin’s situation. On one side it was territorial and the other side was self-determination. The mixture was balanced because it transferred the idea of individual liberty from the person the whole of the nation, which Derbyshire believes the United States in currently lacking and that is what is causing the polarization and the increase in white nationalism.
In order to understand the difference between nationalism and patriotism one needs to grasp the true implications and motives behind the ideas and then assess their own individual needs. The line between the two ideologies is thin, but bold. It is easy to sway on the nationalism side because it is human nature to want to be superior and stronger, but it comes down to individual identity and a unified one. 
  1. Method
For the survey my group and I conducted a culmination of diverse questions to have our respondents critically think and reflect on the psychology of nationalism versus patriotism. The survey was created with SurveyMonkey and it was nine questions in total. The questions were yes or no and agree or disagree question so it was quick and easy to take. Our group wanted to specifically focus on how people view what is nationalistic or patriotic and who can be either. Within the three of us, each of chose certain demographics to survey and we ended up with 90 respondents in total. For my 30 respondents I decided to randomly choose people in downtown Redwood City in the afternoon. I mostly approached people in less than four group members, this is because people are more inclined to do something and help in smaller groups. The way I approached people was in a friendly and relatable manner. It was easier for me to get people to take the survey because people are more inclined to help a woman than a man. I also made sure I smiled and was dressed nicely to give people a sense of comfort and that they could also take me seriously. After I introduced myself as a student and emphasized the importance of this survey on my gradem I asked them if they knew the difference between nationalism and patriotism, if not, I would then explain. Then I asked for them to look over the consent letter and if they decided to take the survey I gave them the link to the survey that was written down on a notecard.







  1. Results



  1. Analysis 
The results were surprisingly different than expected. The questions were made in a way that would not control the respondents answers, but to see how people thought around certain instances and concepts. The 90 respondents were chosen from a mix of peers and random people. For my 30 I chose people randomly in downtown Redwood City, a fairly liberal and upcoming city in Silicon Valley in the Bay Area. Majority population Hispanic and Latinos. Questions like “Is saying ‘I love my country’ patriotic or nationalistic?” and “Do you believe that the feelings of superiority in America over other countries is limited to specific populations?” resulted in answers that enforced my personal view of the Bay Area. For the “I love my country” question it was a close tie between if people thought it was nationalistic or patriotic, a third of the respondents thought it was both which meant that they viewed it based on the context. More than have of them said that they were proud to be in this country and that they believed that regardless of documentation or lack thereof, anyone can be patriotic of the country they live in. People did find nationalism threatening. When defining nationalism the concept of superiority is what stood out to people and found threatening and polarization. This idea is enforced in the answers to questions 5. Question 5 asked the respondents if they felt that the feelings of superiority in America over other countries were limited to specific populations, most people said yes. This specific population can not be assumed, but the stigma around it is that the population is Caucasian people. It is interesting to see that people can feel unified and inclusive, but they still feel that sense of not belonging.
  1. Conclusion and Directions for Future Research 
The survey process overall went fairly smoothly. I think there could have been more communication within the team to make sure we were all on the same page and had the same resources as one another. All of the team members utilized the same survey which did not allow us to explore as much as we wanted to, but it was definitely interesting to see how we all interpreted the results differently. For future research asking more specific follow up or new questions that would allow further analysis. For the survey we all had different demographics such as; family members, random strangers, friends, and co workers. For future research having more specific demographics would also be very interesting so we can really narrow in on how certain demographics think. To improve the survey even more, having specific examples and have respondents identify whether it was nationalistic or patriotic would be useful to see to what extent people thought instances were either or. 





  1. Bibliography 
“Choosing Patriotism over Nationalism.” Harvard Political Review Choosing Patriotism over Nationalism Comments, https://harvardpolitics.com/columns-old/patriotism-over-nationalism/.
Derbyshire, Jonathan. “Two Faces of Nationalism: When Does Patriotism Turn Toxic?” Financial Times, Financial Times, 8 Feb. 2019, https://www.ft.com/content/12a16b40-256d-11e9-b329-c7e6ceb5ffdf.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Research link

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.
Post a Comment
Read more

Impulses Enforced by Irrational Info?

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...
Post a Comment
Read more