ABSTRACT
The social psychologist could perhaps adopt provisionally the simple statement that, whatever else it may be, nationalism is an attitude shared by millions of people in a large variety of cultural contexts. The psychological analysis of national attitudes must remain in the here-and-now, it must remain a-historical. The principal aim is the study of ethnocentrism; as a result of this, the processes of ingroup identification are seen mainly in the context of the attitudes towards outgroups. All motivational and cognitive processes entering into social behavior are relevant in one way or another to the study of national affiliation. When an individual is confronted with the unanimity of a small group concerning a specific issue, he finds himself in a closed system of social influence. Every social scientist must be able to attain from time to time this perspective of a Martian visitor.
