Nationalism and Patriotism

Distinguishing Patriotism and Nationalism

Patriotism and nationalism refer to phenomena that can be encountered frequently and in various guises. In extreme situations such as interstate wars, but also during international sports competitions, it is quite obvious that belonging to a certain country has a strong impact on people's emotions, perceptions, and behaviors. In our everyday life as well, national categories are constantly present: To a large extent, politics is founded on national institutions and aims at pursuing the interests of one's country. Politicians often appeal to feelings of pride, and newspapers subtly reinforce national categories by giving priority to domestic over foreign affairs.

Patriotism and nationalism are terms that have been used differently, regarding both their valence and their specific meaning, in different historical periods. Scientific disciplines such as history, political science, and psychology also exhibit differences as to the level of analysisnations, social groups, or individualsimplied by these terms. In contemporary social psychology, patriotism and nationalism commonly refer to the individual level.

Patriotism, paralleling the concept of social identity, denotes the identification with, and feelings of attachment and commitment to, one's country and the people perceived as belonging to it. Hence, patriotism is defined by how closely an individual feels linked with his or her national group. Typical items used in scales measuring individuals' levels of patriotism are “I love my country” or “The fact that I am [a U.S. citizen] is an important part of my identity.”

Nationalism, in contrast, usually denotes a tendency of individuals to support national interests of their country to the relative disadvantage of other countries and to see their own country as superior to other countries. One example is consumer nationalism, a tendency of consumers to favor goods and services produced in their own country or by domestic companies over “foreign” goods and services. Typical items for measuring individuals' levels of nationalism are “In view of [the United States'] moral and material superiority, it is only right that we should have the biggest say in deciding United Nations policy” and “The [Page 592]important thing for the [U.S.] foreign aid program is to see to it that [the United States] gains a political advantage.”

Regarding patriotism, researchers have distinguished between different forms, such as between blind and constructive patriotism or between iconoclastic, symbolic, instinctive, environmental, capitalistic, and nationalistic-symbolic patriotism. In principle, these differentiations capture (a) to which degree patriotism encompasses an active and critical versus a passive and uncritical orientation toward one's country and its authorities and (b) to which degree patriotism is based on certain features of one's country, that is, how national identity is defined in terms of normative content. Often, there is a societal consensus, or at least a consensus between large groups within society, about which features are (and should be) constitutive of one's national identity. These can include, for example, national symbols such as the flag, a certain ethnicity, a particular ideology, endorsement of democratic aspects such as political institutions or basic rights of citizens, certain cultural or religious characteristics, or fundamental beliefs of group members about the country's situation vis-à-vis other countries.

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