Collective References and Identity Threat among Lebanese and Lebanese-Armenians in the Context of Continuous Intergroup Conflict

L.R. Tavitian, Michael Bender, Fons van de Vijver, Atha Chasiotis, Hrag A. Vosgerichian

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

How people deal with adversity, in terms of threats to their social or ethnic identity has been extensively investigated. However, most studies have focused on samples (e.g. minority groups) from prototypical Western contexts. It is unclear how individuals perceive and deal with identity threats within non-Western plural contexts characterized by intergroup conflict. We therefore assess whether self-affirmation by recalling a past success can buffer against identity threat in the plural, non-Western context of Lebanon. In two studies we investigate how threats are negotiated at a national (Lebanon) (Study 1) and ethnic minority (Armenian) level (Study 2). In Study 1, we show that in a context characterized by a history of intergroup conflict, a superordinate national identity is non-salient. When investigating the content of memories of a sectarian group in Study 2, we find a hypersalient and chronically accessible ethnic identity, a pattern specific to Armenian Lebanese. We suggest that this hyper-salience is employed as a spontaneous identity management strategy by a minority group coping with constant continuity threat. Our findings point to the importance of expanding the study of identity processes beyond the typically Western contexts and in turn, situating them within their larger socio-political and historical contexts.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)25-43
JournalActa de Investigación Psicológica
Volume9
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Social Identity Threat
  • non-Western
  • Chronically Accessible
  • Hyper-Salient Identity

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