Abstract
This paper investigates the relationships among national identity, national pride, and happiness, using a nationally representative survey dataset from South Korea. Two dimensions of national identity—civic and ethnic—are considered, after factor-analyzing eight survey items. The results demonstrate that national pride is positively associated with happiness, but empirical evidence is scarce regarding the relationship between national identity and happiness. Also, we have not found alleged moderating effects of national identity on the relationship between national pride and happiness. Lack of statistically significant effects of national identity is not consistent with the pre-existing findings from cross-national surveys. Given that national identity is deeply rooted in a historically unique context of each nation, this study calls for a more nuanced conceptualization of national identity and culture-specific measures to fully grasp its association with happiness.
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Notes
Scholars have identified three aspects of subjective well-being: (1) evaluative, (2) experience, and (3) eudemonic (Dolan and Metcalfe, 2012). Evaluative aspect of subjective well-being refers to global judgment of life satisfaction, experience aspect corresponds to positive feelings in daily life, and eudemonic aspect focuses on meaningful life with morally and ethically worthwhile activities. Gilbert (2006) uses different terms to denote these three aspects of subjective well-being, i.e., judgmental, emotional, and moral happiness, respectively. In the present study, we pay attention to evaluative (or judgmental) dimension of happiness, given that the survey question we use is about retrospective evaluation of the respondent’s life.
In this vein, Kavetsos (2012) reports that national pride increases in the period following a major sporting event (e.g., the World Cup or the Olympic Games), particularly among individuals from both host and winning countries. After controlling for sports events, economic development turns out to be unassociated with national pride.
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Ha, S.E., Jang, SJ. National Identity, National Pride, and Happiness: The Case of South Korea. Soc Indic Res 121, 471–482 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0641-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0641-7
Keywords
- National identity
- National pride
- Happiness
- South Korea