National identity of secondary school students in the Republic of Serbia

The aim of the study was to examine the structure and expression of national identity among high school students (N = 568) in different cities in Serbia, its connection with self-esteem and achievement motive, as well as differences in relation to sociodemographic characteristics (gender and place of residence). Instruments used: NAIT National Identity Scale, Global Self-Esteem Scale and MOP 2002 Achievement Measurement Scale. The results showed that the values ​​of national identity are above the theoretical average, and are significantly higher than the values ​​obtained in adolescents in an earlier study. Of the general characteristics of their own people, high school students value culture more than history, character traits and state institutions (which value the lowest in relation to all other characteristics), believing that courage is the most pronounced of individual traits, and hypocrisy the least. A positive correlation of national identity with self-esteem and the motive of achievement was obtained, where the motive of achievement is also a significant predictor of national identity. Significant differences were found in the expression of the national identity of high school students in relation to the place of residence (high school students from Belgrade have a higher level of national identity in relation to their peers from Nis and Kosovska Mitrovica).