The relationship between national identity, subjective well-being and meaning in life

Studies have shown a strong relationship between national identity and some of the constructs of positive psychology. So far, these topics have rarely been researched in the Macedonian context. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between national identity, subjective well-being and meaning in life. Thus, 204 undergraduate students participated in the study, 146 female and 58 male students at the age of 18 to 23 years. The data was acquired with the following four scales: national identity was measured with The National Identity Scale (NIS); the meaning in life was measured with the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MIQ); the cognitive aspect of subjective well-being was measured with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS); and the affective aspect was measured with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). It has been hypothesized that the students with higher national identity would have higher satisfaction with life, more positive affects and higher meaning in life; contrary to the students with lower national identity who would have lower satisfaction with life, more negative affects and lower meaning in life. The relationships between each dimension were estimated with the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, and the results partially confirmed the predictions. Positive significant correlation was found between national identity, satisfaction with life and the presence of meaning in life. No significant relationship was found between national identity and the affective (positive and negative) aspects of subjective well-being. These findings are important because they provide a new insight into the relationship between the construct of national identity and the constructs of positive psychology, meaning in life and the aspects of subjective well-being.