Belonging beyond borders: long-term trends in national and global identity in an era of globalization.

As globalization has expanded over recent decades, the world has become increasingly interconnected, raising important questions about how this process shapes national and global identities. Humans have a fundamental need to belong and identity with others; however, globalization can challenge these identities, and its effects may differ across educational groups. Drawing on World Values Survey data from 1981 to 2022, this study investigates long-term trends in national and global identification over time and across educational strata. The results show that global identification follows a curvilinear pattern before declining sharply in recent years, whereas national identification has remained relatively stable overall but also shows a decline in the most recent period. Contrary to expectations, increases in global identification were not limited to highly educated individuals; medium- and low-educated groups also showed notable growth during the second period. These results highlight the complex, nonlinear, and stratified nature of identity in an era of globalization, challenging theoretical assumptions about national and global identification.