Sense of Community Promotes Psychological Well-Being and Civic Responsibility through Muslim-American Adolescents’ Social Identities

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Sense of Community (SOC) refers to feeling a sense of belonging to informal or formal communities (e.g., town, neighborhood; Cicognani et al., 2008) and is predictive of positive outcomes, including well-being (Coulombe & Krzesni, 2019) and civic engagement (Ohmer, 2010). In exploring mechanisms that explain this association, some limited research show that ethnic identity mediates the relation between SOC and minority youth’s well-being (Garcia-Reid et al., 2013) as well as civic empowerment (Lardier, 2018). Specifically, feeling that individuals in their community work towards common goals may promote adolescents’ civic responsibility and well-being by increasing their affiliation to their salient social groups. For religious minorities like Muslim-American adolescents, a sense of belonging to both their minoritized religious and the majority American group is particularly important for their psychological adjustment and civic engagement (Balkaya et al., 2019; Balkaya-Ince et al., 2020). Therefore, we aimed to examine the mediating roles of Muslim-American adolescents’ religious and national identities in the association between their SOC and adjustment outcomes, which has not been previously examined.

Muslim-American adolescents (N= 212, Mage=16.7 years, SDage=1.6 years, 59% female) residing in U.S. Maryland-Washington area reported on their SOC (Cicognani et al., 2006), sense of belonging to their Muslim and American groups (Phinney & Ong, 2007), sense of civic responsibility (CR; Flanagan et al., 2007), and psychological well-being (PWB; Ryff et al., 1995).

Two parallel mediation models were conducted in SPSS Process, controlling for adolescents’ age and gender (see Figures 1 and 2). Adolescents’ SOC was positively associated with both their Muslim and American identities. While American identity was associated with greater well-being, Muslim identity was linked to more civic responsibility, but not vice versa. Thus, Muslim-American adolescents’ SOC was associated with their well-being through their national identity (ab=0.22, 95% CI=[0.09, 0.35]) and to their civic responsibility through their religious identity (ab=0.15, 95% CI=[0.02, 0.28]). Finally, SOC was significantly and directly linked to greater well-being and civic responsibility after controlling for adolescents’ religious and national identities.

Muslim-American adolescents who felt that their community was more collaborative and supportive reported a greater sense of belonging to both their religious and national groups. Public narratives depict Muslim-American adolescents’ religious identity as undermining their participation in the broader American society (Alba & Foner, 2005). However, our findings showed that adolescents’ religious, not their American identity, prompted Muslim-America adolescents to feel more concerned about being civically involved in their community, perhaps reflecting core Islamic teachings that emphasize altruistic behavior and social consciousness (Balkaya-Ince et al., 2019). In contrast, Muslim-American adolescents’ identification with the American group may be specifically beneficial for their psychological well-being because their national identification may facilitate a sense of belonging against a broader backdrop of public rejection in the current socio-political climate that is characterized by a surge in anti-Muslim sentiments. Our findings highlight specificity in developmental processes regarding the differential role of adolescents’ religious and national identities in developmental outcomes. Implications for policies and interventions to promote Muslim-American adolescents’ well-being and civic engagement will be discussed.

Authors

• Christa Schmidt, University of Maryland - Baltimore County
  Presenting Author

• Merve Balkaya-Ince, Baylor University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hatice Gursoy, University of Maryland - Baltimore County
  Non-Presenting Author

• Charissa S. L. Cheah, University of Maryland - Baltimore County
  Non-Presenting Author