Social identity is a factor related to well-being and community participation. Some studies have shown the link between social identity and empowerment and that the interaction between the two makes welfare rates and community participation higher. However, the nature of these relationships may be conditioned by the fact that the person perceives his or her own group as a minority and / or a discriminated group. In fact, these relationships occur mainly in groups that are in a minority and / or discrimination situation, but not in more hegemonic or majority groups.
To advance this thesis, Jon Zabala, member of the consolidated research group Culture, Knowledge and Emotion of the Faculty of Psychology of the University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU), conducted a cross-sectional study to analyze the relationship that social identification (or fusion) identities) and collective psychological empowerment have with the personal well-being, social welfare and community participation of 748 Basques.
As Zabala explained, “we have seen that people who feel very identified or fused with Basques (or Basque speakers) and have a high degree of empowerment have high rates of personal and social well-being and community participation; in fact, they have higher rates than people who are not merged and have a low degree of empowerment ”. On the other hand, the research results suggest that “social identification balances the negative aspects derived from the perception of the group as a linguistic minority,” says the author. Moreover, “we detected that for the well-being of people who consider the state of Euskaldun as a minority in their environment, such as in cities or places where Basque is more fragile, it is more important to feel identified with the Basques. “
According to the researcher, the progress made in the cultural aspect, and especially in the linguistic one, is clearly consistent with the perception of the power of the Basque community to change society and achieve its objectives. However, “we still find certain indicators of vulnerability, such as the fragile situation of the Basque language and some specific indicators of linguistic discrimination in some situations, which can be considered a threat to the survival of the Basque language and therefore the Basque identity. Says Zabala.
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Jon Zabala. (Photo: UPV / EHU)
According to the theory of social identity, “when a group is a minority and perceives relevant threats to their identity, the identity is activated and can initiate empowerment processes,” says the researcher at the Faculty of Psychology. It is possible that, despite the good socio-economic position of this social group in general and the achievements made in terms of language, awareness of the fact that it is a linguistic minority both in the world and in the population of the Basque Country as a whole may contribute to the identification of or the degree of identity fusion with Basque speakers and, especially, the empowerment to act as particularly important factors for well-being ”.
Researchers perceived a strong link between collective empowerment and well-being: “We were surprised that a social factor like this has such a strong relationship with personal well-being,” says Zabala. Collective psychological empowerment was a very important factor and we must continue the investigation. ” The characteristics of the surveyed group are not common compared to the numerous investigations that have been carried out so far in this area (in particular the ethnic identity of African Americans has been studied). Therefore, the researchers say that this work is useful for other research in this field worldwide.
The study, entitled “Basque ethnic identity and collective empowerment: two key factors in community well-being and participation”, was published in the academic journal Frontiers in Psychology. The research was carried out within the doctoral thesis of Jon Zabala in the research group Culture, knowledge and emotions of the Faculty of Psychology UPV / EHU, led by professors Aitziber Pascual Jimeno and Susana Conejero López. AEK collaborated in collecting the data. The study was conducted with the help of the predoctoral program of the Department of Education of the Basque Government. (Source: UPV / EHU)