Perceived Inequality and the Formation of National Pride in Korea

Abstract

Politico-economic explanations for the difference in levels of national pride argue that states create, reinforce, and mobilize nationalism to divert public attention to prevent citizens demanding a redistributive policy when the level of income inequality is high. This paper challenges the assumption of the theory of "diversionary nationalism" that the effect of nationalistic mobilization is uniform across all strata of groups within a society. The results of our statistical analysis of the 2009 Korean General Social Survey show that the effect of the perceived income inequality on national pride varies by ideological orientation. Conservatives tend to have stronger national pride when they perceive income inequality as high, whereas liberals are likely to have weaker national pride upon perceived income inequality.