From a collection of identities to collective identity: Evidence from mainstream and minority adolescents in Bulgaria

R. Dimitrova, A. Chasiotis, M. Bender, F.J.R. van de Vijver

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We studied collective identity and psychological well-being in Bulgarian adolescents (305 mainstreamers, 278 Turkish-Bulgarians, and 183 Muslim-Bulgarians). Turkish-Bulgarian and Muslim-Bulgarian minorities (ethnic Bulgarians converted to Islam during the Ottoman Empire) have been subjected to severe assimilation policies until recently. A multigroup confirmatory analysis showed that ethnic, religious, and familial identities were significantly and positively related to a single underlying factor we labeled collective identity. Bulgarian identity was unrelated to collective identity in the Turkish-Bulgarian group. As expected, mainstream adolescents showed a stronger Bulgarian and weaker religious identity than Turkish-Bulgarian and Muslim-Bulgarian adolescents. In all groups, individuals with a stronger collective identity reported higher levels of well-being. We conclude that the concept of collective identity is useful to link various identity components to well-being of youth from different ethnic groups.
Keywords: ethnic identity, familial identity, religious identity, Turkish-Bulgarian and Muslim-Bulgarian minority, well-being
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)339-367
JournalCross-Cultural Research
Volume48
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'From a collection of identities to collective identity: Evidence from mainstream and minority adolescents in Bulgaria'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this