engleski

National pride and subjective well-being in Croatian citizens

National pride, as a component of national identity, is reflected in a cognitively-symbolic and emotional attachment of citizens towards their country, as well as their sense of belonging to one specific national group. Pride in specific national achievements reveals not only the overall level of national pride, but also identifies the elements of society that are objects of pride in each country. Proposing that under conditions of major socio-political changes such national factors may play an important role in shaping subjective well-being, this paper investigates whether Croatian citizens who experience pride in their nation also perceive a greater sense of happiness and life-satisfaction. Data were collected through a large-scale public opinion survey, in October 2008, on a representative probabilistic sample of adult population of Croatia (N=4000). Single-question measures of "overall happiness" (Fordyce 1988) and "satisfaction with life-as-a whole" (Delhey et al. 2002) were used as indicators of subjective well-being. Degree of national pride was assessed by a 10-item scale which asked questions related to pride in achievements in 10 areas (Haller and Yuchtman-Yaar 1992). Feelings of national pride and higher valuation of country’ s specific achievements are found to be positively related with life-satisfaction and happiness. Results are further analyzed and discussed in the light of socio-political changes which have taken place in Croatia in the last two decades.

Croatia; national pride; subjective well-being; life satisfaction; happiness

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