ABSTRACT
This chapter describes and explains the differences in people's attitudes concerning chauvinism and patriotism in a large number of countries. In order to investigate differences in chauvinism and patriotism between countries as well as between individuals within countries, the chapter analyses theoretical propositions from two different theoretical frameworks: ethnic competition theory and localism theory. According to ethnic competition theory, cross-national variations in nationalist attitudes are related to cross-national differences in the level of actual or perceived competition. Ethnic competition theory thus presumes a two-step causal link: actual ethnic competition induces perceived ethnic threat, which in turn increases chauvinism and patriotism. Individual perceptions of ethnic threat were not often operationalized and measured, but indirectly indicated by means of individual or contextual background variables, and the relative size of the ethnic minority group. Consequently, the relationship between actual competition, perceived threat, and ethnic attitudes has not often been tested explicitly.
