Societal Islamophobia, Heritage and National Identity Among Muslim and Non-Muslim Adolescents

• In Event: 3-215 - Relations among Diverse Adolescents’ ERI, National Identities, and Their Attitudes Towards Intergroup Contact

Integrative Statement

Across Europe, a discourse of immigrant integration is prevalent in media (Bleich, Bloemraad, & de Graauw, 2015), among politicians (Alba, Sloan, & Sperling, 2011), and everyday individuals (Cederberg, 2014). This includes a demand for national allegiance, with ties to heritage communities understood as failed integration and lack of national identity (Schinkel, 2013). Research has shown, however, that a sense of belonging to both one’s heritage and national group is often most psychosocially adaptive (Frankenberg, Kupper, Wagner, & Bongard, 2013; Nguyen & Benet-Martínez, 2013), including among youth (Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006), for whom identity exploration is a key developmental task (Rivas-Drake et al., 2014). Moreover, identity is not zero sum, and higher heritage identity does not necessarily mean lower national identity (Foroutan, 2013). Yet, experiences of discrimination often do negatively relate to national identity (Çelik, 2015). Islamophobia, a form of discrimination, has increased in recent years, with anti-Muslim sentiment included in the discourse of immigrant integration (Betz & Meret, 2009). Despite this, little research has examined perceived Islamophobia’s impact on heritage and national identity among diverse youth.

To fill this gap, we conducted a path analysis in MPlus, examining the effects of Islamophobia on the relation between heritage and national identity among youth of immigrant background in Germany. Responding to a recent call for more intersectional research (Santos & Toomey, 2018), we created a multi-group model based on gender and religion, dividing the sample into four groups (Muslim and non-Muslim girls and boys). Based on previous research, we hypothesized that we would find: (1) a positive direct effect of heritage identity on national identity overall, (2) a negative direct effect of Islamophobia on national identity among Muslim youth, (3) a moderation effect of Islamophobia among Muslim youth, such that those perceiving high Islamophobia would report a negative relation between heritage and national identity, and (4) a stronger moderation effect among Muslim boys, who tend to report greater discrimination. Our sample included 773 9th graders (49.6% female, Mage= 14.75, 36.3% Muslim, 21.8% first-generation, 64.5% second generation, 13.7% third generation) from 17 public secondary schools in Berlin, Germany. All participants reported having at least one grandparent born abroad, which is how “immigrant background” is officially defined.

Based on chi-square difference testing, we concluded that a model with parameters free to vary across all groups yielded the best fit. After examining bootstrap confidence intervals, we found a significantly positive direct effect of heritage identity on national identity among all girls, though not among boys, partially supporting our first hypothesis. Surprisingly, a negative direct effect of Islamophobia on national identity was only found among non-Muslim boys, counter to our second hypothesis. We further found that Islamophobia negatively moderated the relation between heritage and national identity only among Muslim girls. Finally, because this effect was not found among Muslim boys, our third hypothesis was not supported. These findings aid in counteracting the discourse that strong heritage identity relates to lowered national identity, while making clear the complex nature of intersectional identities among diverse youth.

Authors

• Ursula Moffitt, University of Potsdam
  Presenting Author

• Linda Juang, Potsdam University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Moin Syed, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author