German National Identity: Patriotism and Stigma

[Aeternitas]

German National Identity: Patriotism and Stigma

by Hillary Burbank

Abstract
This study investigated Germans’ self-reported levels of patriotism, national identity, cultural affiliation, ingroup preferences, and ethnocentrism in order to explore the predictions of social identity theory (SIT) with reference to members of a stigmatized national group. Participants were 795 Germans born either before 1946 or after 1976 and currently residing in six federal states of the former East and West Germany. The data reveal moderate regional and strong generational variation: older people and former East Germans reported overall higher levels of patriotism, national identity, cultural affiliation, ingroup preferences, and ethnocentrism, relative to younger Germans and to former West Germans. The results also challenge SIT by demonstrating that Germans can positively identify with their nation and culture without inevitably exhibiting national chauvinism.

In full:
http://surj.stanford.edu/archives/20...nNational.html