A peoples sense of national pride is measurable in general, as well as specific, aspects. In the Philippines, the most general survey question used by Social Weather Stations is Gaano ninyo ipinagmamalaki ang pagiging Pilipinotalagang ipinagmamalaki, medyo ipinagmamalaki, medyo hindi ipinagmamalaki, o talagang hindi ipinagmamalaki? (How proud are you to be a Filipinovery proud, somewhat proud, somewhat not proud, or not at all proud?) It has a symmetric four-point scale, with the upper two points for the proud, and the lower two points for the not-proud.

There is a great deal of general national pride. The latest SWS survey of adults on national pride was in December 2013. It found 84 percent very proud, versus 12 percent somewhat proud, 2 percent somewhat not proud, and 2 percent not at all proud, to be Filipinos. Thus 84 + 12 = 96 percent are generally proud to be Filipinos. In April 1993, when SWS first ran this item, only a bare majority of 53 percent felt very proud; adding 36 percent somewhat proud, a total 89 percent were generally proud.

The next time around, in April 1996, the very proud were 76 percent, and the total generally proud were 95 percent. In 28 more surveys from 2000 to 2013, the very proud percentage ranged between 68 (November 2001 and March 2002) and 87 (July 2001, June 2010, and December 2011), and the total generally proud percentage ranged between 87 and 97.

The numbers on specific aspects of national pride are healthy. Last week, I reported 46 percent of Filipinos as very proud, and 39 percent as somewhat proud, or total 85 percent proud, of our history in particular. These numbers are from the SWS survey for the 2003 round of the International Social Survey Program (www.issp.org). They may be compared to the average of 36 percent very proud and 44 percent somewhat proud, or total 80 percent proud, of their history among the ISSP peoples.

History is one of 10 aspects of national pride included in the ISSP module on national identity. (The list is not meant to be comprehensive; for instance, it excludes pride in spirituality and in family love. It was drafted by a committee that included the Philippines, and approved by the ISSP plenary vote.) The table below shows that, among the 10 aspects, our history and our achievements in sports have consistently been the top two sources of Filipino national pride, based on SWS surveys of 1995, 2003 and 2014.

Aspects of National Pride 1995 2003 2014

Percent Very + Somewhat Proud

Achievements in sports 81 85 (81) 87

History 84 85 (80) 86

Achievements in arts

Continued here:
Ten aspects of national pride