The American South: Explorations on southern attachments and personal values. Issue 2 (3rd March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ouyang, Yunzhu; Rast, David E.; Hackett, Justin D.; Hohman, Zachary P.
• Is Part Of: Journal of social psychology. Volume 160:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: 137
• Page End: 149
• Publication Date: 2020-03-03
• Subjects: Social Identity -- Patriotism -- Group Process -- Personal Values -- Attachment; Social psychology -- Periodicals; Psychology, Social -- Periodicals; Psychologie sociale -- Périodiques; Sociale psychologie; Electronic journals; 302.05
• DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2019.1629866
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-4545

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Group membership is central to understanding political behavior and political psychology. However, regional group membership is rarely examined, despite its relevance to political psychology and personal values. To address this, we investigated the relationships among southern identity, southern nationalism, southern pride, and southern constructive patriotism for the U.S. South, as well as the connections between personal values and southern attachments. Results from the structural equation modeling ( N = 268) revealed that stronger southern identity predicted more southern nationalism, southern pride, and southern constructive patriotism. Additionally, greater endorsement of conservation values predicted stronger southern identity and southern pride; those favoring self-transcendence values exhibited less southern nationalism and more southern constructive patriotism; and those with higher self-enhancement values expressed more southern nationalism. This study confirms the predictive role of southern identity on other southern attachments and provides support for how different southern attachments are related to but distinctive from each other.