Jordanians Attitude towards National Identity Components: A Field Study of a Sample of University Youth
Safwat Rousan, Department of Sociology and Social Service, Balqa Applied University, Jordan.
Mohammad Rousan, Department of History, Balqa Applied University, Jordan.
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the concept of national identity and its constituents as perceived by Jordanian youth. The main question is about what identity we have nowadays and the attempt to understand and disintegrate the concept of identity and its subjective and objective constituents through being familiar with Jordanian youth’s perceptions of this identity, the degree of its sensation and the awareness of its constituents. Through the method of field social studies using some statistical analyses based on a sample of (250) university young people who were asked about the meaning of national identity and its prominent constituents following the method of deliberate sample.
After analyzing the results, the study concluded the following:
First: Jordanian youth look upon identity as the feeling of belonging to both Jordanian and tribe and the devotion to the political regime as the protector of this identity and the association of this with their living place and upbringing.
Second: The most prominent constituent of identity is its regional dimension (52%), followed by its national dimension (21%) and finally religious dimension (17%).
Third: The study concluded the result which states that Jordanian and its national and regional concept and then the degree of its perception.
Fourth: There are statistically significant differences of the effect of the variable of place of residence and the age variable on the Jordanian youths’ perception and awareness of identity. The study recommended the necessity of the preparation of joint programs between the public sector and the institutions of civil society to create common understanding within the Jordanian collective sensation to bring out a common identity.
Keywords: National Identity, Jordanian Youth, Jordan Arabism, Islam. Tribe.