Having a sense of national pride is crucial for the well-being and progress of a country. It plays a vital role in the overall development of a nation and its people. Generation X (individuals born between 1960 and 1980) in Indonesia have experienced many national events and these events influence how they feel about being part of Indonesia. However, empirical research has not shown which events are sources of pride for them. Our study identifies sources of national pride for Generation X in Indonesia. The research data was collected using an open questionnaire and analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach. There were 264 native Indonesian people aged 45 to 60 years involved in our study. The results of our research show that the participants in this research are proud of Indonesia because of (1) the people, (2) the nation, and (3) the nature. We have also found several differences in the sources of national pride between Indonesia and Western countries, especially in political conditions and cultural diversity.
Keywords
national pride, reflexive thematic analysis, open-ended questionnaire, Generation X
Author Bio(s)
Rizal Kurniawan Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia Correspondence should be addressed to Rizal Kurniawan: rizal.kurniawan@fip.unp.ac.id
Rizal Kurniawan is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Universitas Negeri Padang in Indonesia. He earned his master's degree in Social Psychology from Universitas Gadjah Mada, where he built a strong foundation for examining social and collective psychological phenomena in contemporary contexts. His current research primarily focuses on nationalism, emphasizing its expression and dynamics across various social domains. Methodologically, He employs a diverse array of approaches, like qualitative and topic modelling. His publications have investigated nationalism in the contexts of sports and social media, highlighting how collective identity is constructed and negotiated in everyday life.
Sartana is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Andalas. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Social Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada. He has a strong academic background in social psychology, with particular interests in the psychology of nationhood, indigenous and cultural psychology, and the psychology of technology. His doctoral research focuses on the construction of national identity among Indonesian millennials using a constructivist grounded theory approach. His research and publications frequently explore issues related to national emotions and cyber behaviour in the Indonesian context. He is also actively involved in academic publishing and currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Jurnal Ilmu Perilaku. In conducting his research, he primarily employs qualitative methodologies, including grounded theory, thematic analysis, and interpretative phenomenological analysis. He is engaged in various research and academic activities that contribute to the development of psychological knowledge both theoretically and practically. He can be contacted at email: sartana@med.unand.ac.id
Avin Fadilla Helmi is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Her expertise lies in social psychology, with particular interests in cyberpsychology and social relationships in the digital era. She has extensive experience in research methodology, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Her interest in psychological measurement development is closely linked to qualitative research, which she considers a fundamental step in conceptualizing constructs and developing valid measurement frameworks. Reflecting this expertise, Prof. Avin has contributed to the development of several psychological instruments, including the Online Friendship Quality Scale, which is grounded in contemporary theoretical and empirical evidence. She has published extensively in both national and international peer-reviewed journals and serves as a reviewer for several reputable journals, including BMC Psychology and Psikohumaniora.
Kurniawan, R., Sartana, & Helmi, A. F. (2026). Generation X’s perspectives on Indonesian national pride: A reflexive thematic analysis. The Qualitative Report, 31(7), 6155-6174.
