Role of Traditional vs. Digital Media in Determining Psychological Nationalism and Patriotism among Pakistani Youth

Abstract

The current study explores the role of different types of media and their psychosocial impact in determining nationalism and patriotism. This has been only a decade’s back narration to include patriotism and nationalism in Psychological jargon. With the inclusion of digital innovations, the psychosocial role of traditional vs. social media in the promotion of nationalism and patriotism among Pakistani youth has become inevitable to be studied. Nationalism and patriotism among university students has become a topic of concern as there is massive trend of brain drain, wherein, the university students strive to move abroad in pursuits of better opportunities, thereby, leaving their homeland as they receive some higher education degree. Thus, brain-drain from Pakistan has been looming as an imminent threat and there is a dire need to examine the underlying dimensions that reduce nationalism and patriotism among youth. This study is, therefore, designed with the main goal of studying the impact of traditional vs. digital media in promoting nationalism and patriotism among Pakistani youth. This is hypothesized that psychosocial impact of media types is likely to be related with promotion of nationalism and patriotism. Employing cross-sectional research design, a detailed questionnaire with significant psychometric strength (entailing significant validation and reliability coefficient) is devised. The sample, comprised of 300 respondents, selected through purposive sampling strategy. The findings, both descriptive and inferential, reveal that digital media are more significant in raising awareness regarding global identity and are a bigger challenge in developing nationalism and patriotism in youth.