A Sense of National Pride in Central and Eastern Europe Based on Data from EVS and WVS

The article presents an analysis of the feeling of general national pride in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe based on survey data from 1981–2020 from two related international research projects – World Values Survey (WVS) and European Values Study (EVS). The collected data allowed us to answer the following questions: what is the level of the sense of national pride in the surveyed societies? What are the similarities and differences between them? How has this aspect of national identity changed over time? It was assumed that national pride is a declarative indicator of national identity. It relates to the assessment of achievements and the sense of satisfaction resulting from belonging to one’s own national community. At the same time, the duality of the consequences of feeling national pride related to both patriotism and nationalism (the so-called “positive” and “negative” national pride) was emphasized. The results of the analysis were compared to the hypotheses about the declining power of national pride and national identity along with the progressing processes of modernization and globalization.