Abstract
Social identity is a factor that is associated with well-being and community participation. Some studies have shown that ethnic identity goes along with empowerment, and that interaction between the two leads to greater indices of well-being and community participation. However, other works suggest a contextual circumstance (i.e., perceiving one’s own group as a minority and/or being discriminated) may condition the nature of these relations. By means of a cross-sectional study, we analyzed the relations of social identification (or identity fusion) and collective psychological empowerment with personal well-being, social well-being and community participation in a sample of Basques. A total of 748 Basques participated (63.1% women; age M = 39.28; SD = 12.13). Individuals who were highly identified or fused with Basque speakers and who were highly empowered showed higher indices of well-being (both personal and social) and of community participation than non-fused individuals with low empowerment. The results also suggest that social identification (or identity fusion) offsets the negative effects of perceiving the group as a linguistic minority. Collective psychological empowerment proved to be an especially relevant factor that needs to continue to be explored.
Highlights
Promotion of well-being is clearly a desirable goal for all individuals, and for all human groups
The main objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between identification with Basque speakers or ethnic identity fusion (EIF), as well as collective psychological empowerment (CPE) with personal well-being, social well-being and community participation in a group of Basques
As far as the CPE is concerned, it resulted in stronger positive associations with all the aforementioned variables
Summary
Promotion of well-being is clearly a desirable goal for all individuals, and for all human groups. Unraveling the amalgam of factors that influence well-being is, precisely, one of the great contributions of social sciences (Salvador-Carulla et al, 2014). Among these factors, social identity stands as a remarkable element that has a positive influence on well-being (Haslam et al, 2009; Jetten et al, 2012). 2018) have shown that synergy or interaction between ethnic identity and psychological or individual empowerment can contribute to both well-being and to community participation. Understanding how the differential interaction of underlying collective factors affects increased community participation in highly diverse ethnic groups proves essential
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