Definition
As other theoretical concepts that point to not directly observable social phenomena, the term “national identity” is marked by conceptual ambiguity. Depending on theoretical tradition, discipline, or field of research and methodological taste, “national identity” might be discussed on the level of individuals, collective actors (political or cultural elites), or enclosed political entities (states or nations), and therefore differently defined and operationalized.
The theoretical grounding of the following definition of “national identity” is based on social identity theory (Tajfel, 1978, 1981; Tajfel & Turner, 1979), self-categorization theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987), and some further developments in political psychology...
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Latcheva, R. (2014). Measuring National Identity. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_4143
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