The Design of Structural Equation Model of Regional Identity and National Identity in Fans of Iran National Volleyball Teams

Regional identity is an interpretation of a process that is institutionalized with a region, and national identity means the sense of belonging and loyalty to common elements and symbols in the national community. The research method was correlation. The statistical population of this study included all participants in the 2017 Asian Volleyball Championship Tournament (N=3000) and the sample size was 320. The sample was randomly selected. For data analysis and inferential statistics, one-sample t test was used to identify the components of the research and exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the latent variables. Then, confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis were used to test the significance of the relationships and finally the conceptual model was developed. Then, a correlation coefficient test was used to examine the relationship of the components of the research variables. Finally, in order to test the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling was used with SPSS and R software. Using the structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between regional identity and national identity, fit indices were as follows: AGFI = 0.973, CFI = 96.95, RMSEA = 0.03, TLA = 0.947. The rate of these indices all represented the fit of the model with the data. In other words, the observed data were largely consistent with the conceptual model of the research. The regression coefficient of the relationship between regional identity and the national identity was 0.648 and significant. Based on these results, the stronger the regional identity, the stronger the national identity will be and the fans of the Iran national volleyball teams have a high degree of solidarity with national identity dimensions.