TY - JOUR
T1 - Political violence and psychological well-being
T2 - The role of social identity
AU - Muldoon, Orla T.
AU - Schmid, Katharina
AU - Downes, Ciara
PY - 2009/1
Y1 - 2009/1
N2 - A significant body of research points to the central role of identity in creating and maintaining conflict. However, less research has focused on the protective role of social identity in such situations. Using a survey sample of 3,000 participants, 2,000 of whom were resident in a conflict-affected region (Northern Ireland) and 1,000 in a region more distally affected (the Border counties of the Republic of Ireland) the potential moderating and mediating impact of national identification on the relationship between direct and indirect experience of political violence and psychological well-being is examined. Findings indicate that national identification mediates the impact of direct political violence on well-being in Northern Ireland. This relationship is strongest where preferred nationality is relevant to the social division underlying the conflict. Those more distally affected, resident in the Republic of Ireland, did not evidence this pattern of relationships. Discussion of results focuses on the potential positive and negative implications of these findings for personal and societal well-being, respectively.
AB - A significant body of research points to the central role of identity in creating and maintaining conflict. However, less research has focused on the protective role of social identity in such situations. Using a survey sample of 3,000 participants, 2,000 of whom were resident in a conflict-affected region (Northern Ireland) and 1,000 in a region more distally affected (the Border counties of the Republic of Ireland) the potential moderating and mediating impact of national identification on the relationship between direct and indirect experience of political violence and psychological well-being is examined. Findings indicate that national identification mediates the impact of direct political violence on well-being in Northern Ireland. This relationship is strongest where preferred nationality is relevant to the social division underlying the conflict. Those more distally affected, resident in the Republic of Ireland, did not evidence this pattern of relationships. Discussion of results focuses on the potential positive and negative implications of these findings for personal and societal well-being, respectively.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=58149170287&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1464-0597.2008.00385.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1464-0597.2008.00385.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:58149170287
SN - 0269-994X
VL - 58
SP - 129
EP - 145
JO - Applied Psychology
JF - Applied Psychology
IS - 1
ER -