Sport and National Pride: A Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v65.112226Keywords:
Literature review, media, national pride, olimpiade, politic, sport, wordcupAbstract
Introduction: national pride is a person’s psychological self-evaluation of their nation. National pride has many benefits for the survival of a nation. A thing that influences national pride is sports. Achievements in sports achieved by a country can increase the national pride of its citizens.
Objective: this study explores how sports shape a person’s national pride.
Methodology: using a comprehensive literature review approach, this study explores the results of previous studies in answering the antecedents and consequences of national pride in the context of sports. Twenty-one articles on national pride and sports were studied in this research. Then, the researcher narrates the results of these studies. Most of the articles included in the study used a cross-sectional approach and were studied in the context of European countries.
Results: the results show that national pride in sports fluctuates more than other sources of national pride. Major sports events play an essential role in shaping the national pride of the citizens of a country. Demographic variables such as gender, education level, income, age, race, and ethnicity also influence a person’s national pride. It was also found that the positive impact of national pride is the formation of well-being. On the other hand, the role of the media and family in forming national pride in sports has not been explored much.
Conclusions: athletes' and political achievements play an important role in shaping national pride. In addition, national pride can improve a person's subjective well-being. National pride has a positive correlation with demographics, economic and educational levels, family status, gender, age, race, and even ethnicity.
References
Abramson, P. R., & Inglehart, R. (1992). Generational replacement and value change in eight West Euro-pean societies. British Journal of Political Science, 22(2), 183–228.
Alfurqan, A., Syaputri, W., Okilanda, A., Yulianti, A. I., Indra, Y., Hastianah, H., Isnaeni, M., Widyasari, W., & Amrista, R. (2024). Los valores islámicos y la identidad cultural en los comentarios sobre el fútbol del Mundial (Islamic values and cultural identity in world cup football commentary). Re-tos, 59, 1149–1157. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v59.109355
Akbar, A., Karim, Z. A., Zakaria, J., Imami, M. K. W., Rahman, M. A., Mahayunan, G. R., & Yonghong, G. (2024). Formulación de un modelo de trayectoria de desarrollo para futbolistas sub-17 en In-donesia y Malaysia: un paso hacia la excelencia (Formulating a Development Path Model for Under-17 Football Players in Indonesia and Malaysia: A Step Towards Excellence). Retos, 55, 1010–1017. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v55.105891
Atkinson, G., Mourato, S., Szymanski, S., & Ozdemiroglu, E. (2008). Are We Willing to Pay Enough to `Back the Bid’?: Valuing the Intangible Impacts of London’s Bid to Host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Urban Studies, 45(2), 419–444. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098007085971
Brown, L., Richards, S., & Jones, I. (2014). Sojourner perceptions of the St George Cross flag during the FIFA 2010 World Cup: A symbol of carnival or menace? International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 49(1), 102–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690212450647
Chaeroni, A., Muspardi, M., Ahmed, M., Talib, K., Orhan, B. E., Lani, M. N., Asuti, Y., & Kurnaz, M. (2024). deporte como instrumento de nacionalismo y patriotismo: una revisión sistemática de la litera-tura sobre el papel del deporte en la formación de la identidad nacional en diversos países (Sports as an instrument of nationalism and patriotism: a systematic literature review on the role of sports in shaping national identity in various countries). Retos, 61, 1038–1049. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v61.108752
Choi, S. Y., Abel, M., Siqi-Liu, A., & Umanath, S. (2021). National identity can be comprised of more than pride: Evidence from collective memories of Americans and Germans. Journal of Applied Re-search in Memory and Cognition, 10(1), 117–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.09.004
Denham, B. E. (2010). Correlates of pride in the performance success of United States athletes compet-ing on an international stage. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 45(4), 457–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690210373540
Elling, A., Van Hilvoorde, I., & Van Den Dool, R. (2014). Creating or awakening national pride through sporting success: A longitudinal study on macro effects in the Netherlands. International Re-view for the Sociology of Sport, 49(2), 129–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690212455961
Evans, M. D. R., & Kelley, J. (2002). National pride in the developed world: Survey data from 24 nations. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 14(3), 303–338. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/14.3.303
Gassmann, F., Haut, J., & Emrich, E. (2020). The effect of the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup tourna-ments on German national pride. A natural experiment. Applied Economics Letters, 27(19), 1541–1545. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2019.1696448
Gonzalez Cano, J. P., Hoyos Góez, R., Perez Sánchez, E., & Moreno Gómez, W. (2022). Niños y niñas, so-cialización y subjetivación política en la Medellín de la insurgencia social (Children, political so-cialization and subjectivization in Medellín of social insurgency): De ludo arte luctatorio y for-mas emergentes de actuación política de la infancia. Retos, 45, 144–153. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v45i0.92033
Halldorsson, V. (2021). National sport success and the emergent social atmosphere: The case of Iceland. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 56(4), 471–492. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690220912415
Hallmann, K., Breuer, C., & Kühnreich, B. (2013). Happiness, pride and elite sporting success: What pop-ulation segments gain most from national athletic achievements? Sport Management Review, 16(2), 226–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2012.07.001
Hjerm, M. (1998). National identities, national pride and xenophobia: A comparison of four Western countries. Acta Sociologica, 41(4), 335–347.
ISSP. (2013). International Social Survey Programme: National Identity III - ISSP 2013. National Identi-ty III. ZA.
Jung, H. (2022). Contested racial democracy: The 2014 World Cup, the 2016 Olympics, and the emer-gence of civic nationalism in Brazil. SAGE Open, 12(1), 215824402210798. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221079840
Kavetsos, G. (2012). National Pride: War Minus the Shooting. Social Indicators Research, 106(1), 173–185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9801-1
Leng, H. K., Kuo, T.-Y., Baysa-Pee, G., & Tay, J. (2014). Make me proud! Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games and its effect on national pride of young Singaporeans. International Review for the So-ciology of Sport, 49(6), 745–760. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690212469189
Lim, S., & Prakash, A. (2021). Pandemics and citizen perceptions about their country: Did COVID‐19 increase national pride in South Korea? Nations and Nationalism, 27(3), 623–637. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12749
Luksyte, A., & Avery, D. R. (2010). The Effects of citizenship dissimilarity and national pride on atti-tudes toward immigrants: Investigating mediators and moderators of intergroup contact. In-ternational Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34(6), 629–641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.04.001
Macintyre, A., Chan, H. F., Schaffner, M., & Torgler, B. (2023). National pride and tax compliance: A la-boratory experiment using a physiological marker. PloS One, 18(1), e0280473.
Meier, H. E., & Mutz, M. (2016). Sport-Related National Pride in East and West Germany, 1992-2008. Sage Open, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016665893
Meier, H. E., & Mutz, M. (2018). Political regimes and sport-related national pride: a cross-national analysis. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 10(3), 525–548. https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2018.1447498
Mo, P. K. H., Yu, Y., Luo, S., Wang, S., Zhao, J., Zhang, G., Li, L., Li, L., & Lau, J. T. F. (2021). Dualistic deter-minants of COVID-19 vaccination intention among university students in China: From per-ceived personal benefits to external reasons of perceived social benefits, collectivism, and na-tional pride. Vaccines, 9(11), 1323.
Olah, Șerban. (2022). The National Identity, the National Pride and the Willingness to Fight for the Country. A Study Case of the Ukraine-Russia Conflict. Eurolimes, 31(31–32), 165–173.
Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2016). Seven steps to a comprehensive literature review: A multimodal and cultur-al approach. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Pawlowski, T., Downward, P., & Rasciute, S. (2014). Does national pride from international sporting success contribute to well-being? An international investigation. Sport Management Review, 17(2), 121–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2013.06.007
Rosenzweig, L. R., & Zhou, Y.-Y. (2021). Team and Nation: Sports, Nationalism, and Attitudes Toward Refugees. Comparative Political Studies, 54(12), 2123–2154. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414021997498
Rutkauskas, V. (2018). Factors affecting willingness to fight for one’s own country: The case of baltic states. Special Operations Journal, 4(1), 48–62.
Shibli, S., Ramchandani, G., & Davies, L. (2021). The impact of British sporting achievements on national pride among adults in England. European Sport Management Quarterly, 21(5), 658–676. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2021.1916553
Shimokubo, T. (2022). Political regime and the impact of sporting success on national pride: a quasi-natural experiment in Germany. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 14(1), 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2021.1996437
Shimokubo, T. (2023). Hosting Olympic Games under a state of emergency: are people still proud of their country? International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 15(1), 147–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2022.2162102
Smith, T. W. (2006). National pride in comparative perspective: 1995/96 and 2003/04. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 18(1), 127–136. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edk007
Smith, T. W., & Kim, S. (2006). National pride in comparative perspective: 1995/96 and 2003/04. Inter-national Journal of Public Opinion Research, 18(1), 127–136.
Sorek, T., & White, R. G. (2016). American football and national pride: Racial differences. Social Science Research, 58, 266–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.03.006
Storm, R. K., & Jakobsen, T. G. (2020). National pride, sporting success and event hosting: an analysis of intangible effects related to major athletic tournaments. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 12(1), 163–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2019.1646303
Syaputri, W., Okilanda, A., Isnaeni, M., Hardaniwati, M., Winarti, S., Efendi, E., Yulianti, A. I., & Septiana, D. (2024). Palabras deportivas: cómo los comentaristas indonesios influyen en las narrativas de los partidos. Retos, 61, 1578–1587. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v61.110892
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (2004). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In Political psychol-ogy (pp. 276–293). Psychology Press.
van Hilvoorde, I., Elling, A., & Stokvis, R. (2010). How to influence national pride? The Olympic medal index as a unifying narrative. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 45(1), 87–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690209356989
Vlachová, K. (2019). “This Country Is Not for Anyone”: Explanations of Low National Pride in the Czech Republic. Nationalities Papers, 47(6), 1000–1012. https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2018.22
Williams, J. K. (2018). A comprehensive review of seven steps to a comprehensive literature review. The Qualitative Report, 23(2), 345–350.
Wu, W.-C. (2023). Distributive Unfairness, National Pride, and Willingness to Fight: Evidence from Taiwan. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 00219096231168047.
Xue, H., Mason, D. S., Humphreys, B. R., Johnson, B. K., & Whitehead, J. C. (2019). Framing the Olympic Elite Athlete Funding Issue: A Case Study of Canadian Newspaper Coverage. Communication & Sport, 7(3), 310–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479518775427
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Rizal Kurniawan, Indriyani Santoso, Amin Akbar, Hanifa Dalimunthe, Hanny Damra, Iftita Rahmi, Anindra Guspa, Free Dwatra, Mario Pratama
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and ensure the magazine the right to be the first publication of the work as licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of authorship of the work and the initial publication in this magazine.
- Authors can establish separate additional agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (eg, to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Is allowed and authors are encouraged to disseminate their work electronically (eg, in institutional repositories or on their own website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as to a subpoena more Early and more of published work (See The Effect of Open Access) (in English).
This journal provides immediate open access to its content (BOAI, http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/boaifaq.htm#openaccess) on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The authors may download the papers from the journal website, or will be provided with the PDF version of the article via e-mail.
