Mass Media and National Identity: A Case Study on Isfahan University Students

The present study seeks to examine the impacts of using mass media and mass communication networks on national identity. To investigate the relationship, views from Anderson, Riseman, Gidens and Inglehart are used in the study. This research has been carried out through a survey using questionnaire distributed among students from Isfahan University in the academic year of 1387-88 (solar calendar). In the first stage of the research, stratified sampling and in the second stage, quota sampling were used. Some 490 subjects were selected as the sample. The hypotheses’ testing suggests that there is a relationship between mass media consumption and national identity. The findings indicates that individuals consuming domestic media get a high score on the construct of national identity and, contrarily, the score of those individuals who use foreign media is low on national identity. The finding is indicative of attitudes’ shift towards new patterns. Regression Analysis has also been used for examining hypotheses. Other findings show that of all the variables affecting national identity, variables such as gender, the extent of foreign and domestic media consumption, age and marital status are more decisive.