Principal Investigator: dr hab. Maciej Sekerdej

1. Research project objectives/ Research hypothesis (in English)The main goal of the proposed research program is to contribute to the scientific understanding of the psychological factors that shape different dimensions of national identification, along with bettering our understanding of the consequences of these various forms of identification for intra- and intergroup relations. In the planned research project, we will focus on both individual dispositions, such as values or basic dimensions of self-perception, and situational factors, such as the perception of one’s own national group or one’s own position in it. We will conduct a series of studies: 1) to demonstrate how the perception of a discrepancy between actual and ideal views of the nation contributes to different dimensions of patriotism; 2) to show how personal values motivate different forms of patriotism; and 3) to determine how basic aspects of individual self-perception (perceived self-agency and communion), in interaction with the feeling of closeness to one’s own nation, predict different dimensions of patriotism.

2. Research project methodology (in English)The proposed research project includes three lines of correlational and experimental studies. In a series of correlation studies, we will initially verify and specify the hypothesized links between our variables. In a series of experiments, we will test the causal character of these correlations. In doing so, with the use of priming techniques we will manipulate the independent variables (i.e. a discrepancy in the perception of the ingroup, personal values, and self-perception), and subsequently measure their impact on various dimensions of patriotism. In both the correlational studies and the experimental studies we will test possible mediator and moderator variables (e.g. emotions).

3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science (in English)The program of research has academic merit and it will make a social impact. Above all, it offers a new approach to the question of the different kinds of national identifications that in social psychology have until now been usually boiled down to the simplistic division between “bad” nationalism and “good” patriotism. Moreover, this will constitute the first experimental studies conducted in this more detailed line of research. Finally, we offer an interdisciplinary approach combining conceptual developments from different fields of the social sciences and humanities, such as sociology and political science (situational factors), individual psychology (individual dispositions), and social psychology (the interaction of situational and individual factors).