Subjective Culture and Patriotism: Gender, Ethnic, and Class Differences among High School Students

The perceptual-representational theoretical framework and the Associative Group Analysis method are used to explore the meaning of patriotism for U. S. high school students. The impact that gender, ethnicity, and class, as measured by reading scores, have on the substantive content of these meanings is also assessed. A patriotism domain consisting of stimulus themes of NATION, SOCIETY, COMMUNITY, PATRIOTISM, GOVERNMENT, and UNITED STA TES is analyzed to determine salience and meaning. The psychocultural distance among the students is also explored.