Religious Identity among Immigrant-Origin Muslim Adolescents in Denmark and the United States

• In Event: 2-018 - Explorations of Identity Development among Muslim Minority Adolescents in Different Contexts

Integrative Statement

Identity development research tends to focus on identity processes (e.g., exploration and commitment in Marcia’s identity status model) rather than on the contents (e.g., specific experiences) that individuals describe as part of identity. Recently, Galliher, McLean, and Syed (2017) called for research connecting identity processes to identity contents. In the present study, we asked how identity status for religion corresponds to identity contents among Muslim adolescents from immigrant families in the United States and Denmark. Muslims in both countries experience discrimination due to their religion. However, even in the face of discrimination, religion can be a powerful positive resource for immigrant youth (Abo-Zena & Barry, 2013). By asking how identity status corresponds to identity contents, we can examine how youth in a marginalized group and in two cultural contexts experience their religion as they develop.

Ninety-six Muslim adolescents ages 12 to 18 were interviewed individually using the Identity Status Interview (Archer & Waterman, 1993). US participants (n= 58) had family origins in 22 countries; Danish participants (n= 38) had family origins in 11 countries. Coders assessed exploration and commitment (Marcia, 1993) to classify participants’ identity status (diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, achievement). Additionally, coders examined identity contents by rating religiousness, components of spirituality, agreement with close others, support from close others, and quality of interactions with non-Muslims.

Age correlated positively with identity status (r = .28, p < .01). Results revealed differences between Danish and US samples as well as differences among identity status groups regardless of country. Danish youth were more likely than US youth to be categorized in diffusion (see Figure 1). Danish Muslims perceived greater support from parents and Muslim friends than did US participants, but among participants who mentioned interactions with non-Muslims, Danish Muslims were more likely to perceive discrimination (e.g., from teachers, strangers). Danish youth were less likely to be religious than US youth, but in both countries, those in foreclosure and achievement statuses were more likely to be religious than those in diffusion and moratorium. Adolescents in identity achievement, the most complex status, reported higher levels of spirituality than other identity status groups (see Figure 2) and also perceived more support from parents and Muslim friends.

The findings suggest that those with different identity statuses may have different experiences (e.g., spirituality, social support) in relation to their religion, and thus that identity contents vary with identity status. Moreover, these differences play out in different cultural contexts, with religious identity less explored in Denmark, a less religious country than the United States (WIN/Gallup International, 2014). At the same time, Denmark provides generous family benefits and actively promotes group cohesion (Larsen, 2013). Danish Muslim youth (vs. US youth) perceive both greater religious support from those close to them and greater religious discrimination from those different from them. Overall, the results illuminate identity content in a marginalized religious group. They also support recent models suggesting that religious development must be understood in the context of the relational and cultural systems in which it occurs (King & Boyatzis, 2015).

Authors

• Kathleen M Cain, Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College
  Presenting Author

• Taylor N. Ward Rafael, Gettysburg College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Colleen M Kolb, Gettysburg College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Barbara Benowitz, Gettysburg College
  Non-Presenting Author

• E. Blair Cox, Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kaleigh N Johnson, Gettysburg College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Casey E Eck, Gettysburg College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maja Sbahi Biehl, DIS
  Non-Presenting Author