Exploring Relations among Perceived Religious Discrimination, Religious Commitment,

Acculturation, and Collective Self-Esteem in Muslim Americans in the Trump Era

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Zehra Merve Kaya

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May 2020
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A dissertation submitted to the

faculty of the Graduate School of
the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology
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 Dedication

To: Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha,

and their families and friends.

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On February 10, 2015, the same day that I was accepted by State University of New York
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at Buffalo for my Ph.D., Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and Razan

Mohammad Abu-Salha (Our Three Winners) were killed in their Chapel Hill home in a hate
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crime that targeted them for being Muslims. This crime was not only a shock and horror to their

families, but to so many people around the world.

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Though Muslim Americans and other marginalized groups are no stranger to hate crimes

and violence, there are very few interventions that have successfully prevented these crimes from

happening in the first place. I hope this research study increases awareness and contributes to the

the fight against hate crimes towards Muslim Americans.

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 Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my committee

chair and my academic adviser Dr. Amy L. Reynolds for her encouragement, mentorship,

flexibility, constant support, and wisdom. The help she provided for this dissertation was only

the top of the iceberg, however, her support throughout my five-year journey in graduate school

was the vast part of the iceberg beneath the ocean. Dr. Reynolds was an adviser that every

graduate student has dreamt of. She always overlooked my mistakes, highlighted my strengths,

kindled my curiosity, celebrated my successes, taught me with patience, and listened to me

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genuinely just when I needed to be heard. In addition to being a great academic role model, she

also taught me how to be a social justice activist in Counseling Psychology. I believe Dr.
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Reynolds will be my life long mentor, therefore, I would like to offer her my sincerest gratitude

not only for what she has already taught me, but also for what she will continue to teach me in
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the future.

I also would like to thank my other committee members; Dr. Myles Faith, Dr. Hanna
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Suh, and Dr. Hatem Bazian for their expertise and feedback. I was glad to have worked with Dr.

Faith throughout my entire graduate school year career. I have learned to be a strong, ethical

researcher from him. I was always inspired by Dr. Suh’s warm, welcoming nature, her passion

for the field, and compassion for the students. Dr. Bazian’s comments, and questions created a

huge impact on my world view, and taught me about the important nuances needed while

working with marginalized communities.

I would like to extend my special thanks to my family. I am grateful to have a wonderful

mom who taught me how to have wild dreams, how to fight to reach them and, how to believe

that human beings cannot be prevented from reaching them. She was an excellent role model to

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me as strong woman, and a leader in her community. I am also thankful to have an amazing dad

who taught me the importance of hard work, dedication, diligence, and giving my full potential

to any work I do. He gave constant support in my academic endeavors, sparked my curiosity at

an early age, and even completed his Ph.D. a couple years before mine to show me that there is

no limit for seeking knowledge. I am also lucky to have my sister, and brother as my life-long

guaranteed best friends, supporters, and admirers. I have always been inspired by their love and

generosity during my high or low points.

I also owe my deepest gratitude to my close friends Dr. Carrie Ernhout, and John Forde.

Their tremendous support from the day one, warm friendships, fun neighborship, delicious foods,

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and endless road trips made this journey more meaningful and beautiful. My sincere thanks to
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my beloved friends Ayse Cobanoglu, and Kubra Say for providing their incredible support,

priceless expertise, and encouragement throughout my graduate school journey and specifically
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while this dissertation was being finalized. Thank to Dr. Brittany Sievers for her heartwarming

friendship, long social justice conversations, and wise feedback on my dissertation.

Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Reuben Robbins for his seven years of emotional
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support, patience, and outstanding listening skills. I thank him not only for having an impact on

my personal transformation throughout this journey, but also for being transformed with me.

Last but not least, I want to express my appreciation to my sponsor, Ministry of National

Education of Turkey for their generous financial support.

Finally, I want to thank God for granting me all these opportunities. I believe my Ph.D.

has given me meaning in life, taught me who I really am, and helped me to form new dreams

about creating a positive impact on society.

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 Abstract

The aims of this study were to examine the impact of the Trump era on the perceived

religious discrimination among Muslim Americans, and explore relations among perceived

religious discrimination, acculturation, religious commitment and collective self-esteem in

Muslim Americans in the Trump era. The participants were 198 Muslim Americans who

communicate in English, have been living in the US for at least five years, and are 18 years or

older. Data was collected via an online survey in six months in 2019 which composed of the

following five instruments: a Personal Data Form, the Perceived Religious Discrimination Scale

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(Rippy and Newman, 2006), the Acculturation Scale for Muslim Americans (Bagasra, 2010), the

Muslim Religious Commitment Scale (Bagasra, 2010), and the Collective Self-Esteem Scale
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(Luhtenen, & Crocker, 1992). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired sample t-

test, and multiple linear regressions. The associations between variables highlighted statistically
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significant correlations. Results of the paired samples t-test revealed that all three variables

(religious commitment, acculturation, collective self-esteem) predicted perceived religious

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discrimination significantly. Additionally, a step-wise multiple linear regression analysis results

showed that participants with American citizenship, and who reported experiencing any type of

Muslim religious discrimination in the Trump era reported higher level perceived religious

discrimination than their counterparts. Moreover, three separate multiple linear regressions

results suggested that all seven of the demographic variables predicted religious commitment,

specifically, participants who reported any discrimination during the Trump era, and participants

who are older, reported a higher level of religious commitment than their counterparts. This

study is the first to examine these variables together in the Trump era.

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 Table of Contents
Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... iii

Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv

Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi

Chapter I: Introduction .....................................................................................................................1

Statement of the Problem ...........................................................................................................4

Religious Discrimination ...........................................................................................................5

Acculturation..............................................................................................................................6

Religious Commitment ..............................................................................................................7

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Collective Self-esteem ...............................................................................................................7

Self-esteem. ......................................................................................................................... 7
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Research Questions ....................................................................................................................9

Significance of the Study .........................................................................................................10

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Definitions of Terms ................................................................................................................11

Perceived religious discrimination. ................................................................................... 11

Acculturation..................................................................................................................... 12
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Religious commitment.. .................................................................................................... 12

Collective self-esteem. ...................................................................................................... 13

The Trump era................................................................................................................... 13

Islamophobia. .................................................................................................................... 14

Summary ..................................................................................................................................14

Chapter II: Review of Literature ....................................................................................................15

Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................15

Social Determinants of Minority Mental Heath.......................................................................15

Macro level determinants. ................................................................................................. 16

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 Economic environment. .................................................................................................... 16

Political environment. ....................................................................................................... 16

Social environment ........................................................................................................... 17

Physical environment. ....................................................................................................... 18

Community level determinants. ........................................................................................ 18

Social factors ..................................................................................................................... 19

Cultural factors.................................................................................................................. 19

Psychological factors. ....................................................................................................... 19

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Built environment. ............................................................................................................ 20
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Family level determinants.. ............................................................................................... 20

Individual level determinants ............................................................................................ 20

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Migration status. ............................................................................................................... 20

Socioeconomic status. ....................................................................................................... 20

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Discrimination experience. ............................................................................................... 21

Construct Definitions and the Relevant Literature ..................................................................21

Religious discrimination. .................................................................................................. 21

Perceived religious discrimination.. .................................................................................. 22

Acculturation..................................................................................................................... 26

Muslim American identity. ............................................................................................... 27

Religiosity and religious commitment. ............................................................................. 29

Role of mosques in acculturation. ..................................................................................... 30

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 Religious commitment. ..................................................................................................... 31

Collective self-esteem.. ..................................................................................................... 34

Summary ..................................................................................................................................37

Chapter III: Methodology ..............................................................................................................38

Participants ...............................................................................................................................39

Procedures ................................................................................................................................40

Measures ..................................................................................................................................41

Personal data form (PDF). ................................................................................................ 41

The Trump era effect items. .............................................................................................. 41

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Perceived religious discrimination scale (PRDS). ............................................................ 41

Acculturation scale for Muslim Americans (ASMA).. ..................................................... 43

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Muslim religious commitment scale (MRCS). ................................................................. 44

Collective self-esteem scale (CSES). ................................................................................ 44

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Research Design.......................................................................................................................45

Data Analysis ...........................................................................................................................46

Ethical Considerations .............................................................................................................47

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Summary ..................................................................................................................................48

Chapter IV: Results ........................................................................................................................49

Preliminary Analyses ...............................................................................................................50

Variables ..................................................................................................................................50

Perceived religious discrimination. ................................................................................... 50

Religious commitment. ..................................................................................................... 51

Acculturation..................................................................................................................... 51

Collective self-esteem. ...................................................................................................... 51

The Trump era effect. ....................................................................................................... 51

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 Demographic variables. .................................................................................................... 52

Assumptions Testing ................................................................................................................52

Normality. ......................................................................................................................... 52

Homoscedasticity. ............................................................................................................. 52

Linearity. ........................................................................................................................... 52

Multicollinearity. .............................................................................................................. 53

Independence. ................................................................................................................... 53

Correlational Analysis .............................................................................................................53

Primary Research Questions ....................................................................................................53

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Primary research question one. ......................................................................................... 53

Primary research question two. ......................................................................................... 53

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Primary research question three ........................................................................................ 55

Secondary Research Questions ................................................................................................56

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Secondary research question one. ..................................................................................... 56

Secondary research question two. ..................................................................................... 56

Secondary research question three. ................................................................................... 57

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Summary ..................................................................................................................................57

Chapter V: Discussion ...................................................................................................................66

Summary of Study Findings ....................................................................................................67

Study Limitations and Directions for Future Studies ..............................................................75

Clinical Implications ................................................................................................................80

Summary ..................................................................................................................................83

References ......................................................................................................................................85

APPENDIX A: The Recruitment Letter ......................................................................................105

APPENDIX B: Personal Data Form ............................................................................................107

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APPENDIX C: The Perceived Religious Discrimination Scale ..................................................110

APPENDIX D: The Acculturation Scale for Muslim Americans ...............................................114

APPENDIX E: The Muslim Religious Commitment Scale ......................................................116

APPENDIX F: The Collective Self-Esteem Scale.......................................................................119

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 Chapter I: Introduction

In the last few decades, social and cultural changes have occurred in the western world in

general and United States in particular due to rising immigration rates (Catenaccio, 2003). As a

result, multicultural research has become more common across many academic and professional

disciplines, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, and public health. Whether it is

valued and appreciated, or dismissed and neglected, multicultural research has the capacity to

impact society. In our globalized world, multicultural research is increasingly salient and many

studies are focused on the adverse impact of discrimination in marginalized groups.

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Discrimination refers to “treating people differently from others based on membership in

a social group” (Whitley & Kite, 2006, p. 8). As a marginalized group, Muslim Americans have
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been subjected to increased discrimination in the United States (Beydoun, 2016). According to

the Pew Research Center (2017), there are about 3.45 million Muslims of all ages living in the
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U.S. and they make up about 1.1% of the U.S. total population. Estimates suggest that by 2040

Muslims will be the nation’s second largest religious group after Christians. Contrary to common
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belief, the majority of non-U.S. born Muslim Americans do not have Arab heritage: 35% are

South Asian, 25% are Middle Eastern and North African, 23% are Pacific Islander, 9% Sub-

Saharan African, 4% are European, and 4% are South Americans (Pew Research Center, 2017).

Most Muslim Americans embrace both the “Muslim” and “American” parts of their identity

(Stubbs & Sallee, 2013). Specifically, the vast majority of U.S. Muslims say they are proud to be

American (92%), while nearly all say they are proud to be Muslim (97%); indeed, 89% say they

are proud to be both Muslim and American (Pew Research Center, 2018). Living with these

multiple identities creates unique challenges for Muslim Americans and requires that research

take a complex approach in understanding and studying them.

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 Culture has an undeniable impact on an individual’s behaviors. For instance, coming

from a collectivist or individualistic culture affects one’s moods; a study revealed that negative

moods (i.e., neuroticism, stress, emotional dysregulation) are more prominent in individualistic

Western cultures than collectivist Eastern cultures (Knyazev, Kuznetsova, Savastyanov, &

Dorosheva, 2017). Similarly, Islamic culture has a unique impact on Muslim individuals

compared to other religions. More specifically, being a Muslim American within the current

political discourse has unique implications that warrant research in order to fully understand the

effect that living in the age of Trump has on Muslim Americans.

The searing reality of significant events related to Muslim Americans living in the United

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States, such as 9/11 terrorist attacks and current anti-Muslim rhetoric, further underscore the
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importance of taking a nuanced and complex perspective when studying Muslim Americans.

Anti-Muslim rhetoric in the U.S. increased after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Muslim Americans
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have been subject to religious and racial discrimination ever since (Martin, 2015). This rhetoric

expanded during the 2016 presidential election campaign when many politicians were framing

all Muslims as a threat to national security (Abu-Ras, Suarez, & Abu-Bader, 2018). In the
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current sociopolitical climate, intensified anti-Muslim rhetoric has placed Muslim Americans at

heightened risk for religious discrimination (Carter, 2010). Generally, Muslim Americans are

subjected to stereotyping, harassment, intimidation, discrimination, and profiling related to their

employment, housing, or education (Peek, 2010).

Most studies on discrimination have focused on race, gender, and ethnicity, while the

impact of religious discrimination on mental health has often been dismissed (Jordanova,

Crawford, McManus, Bebbington, & Brugha, 2015). Critiques have suggested that religious

discrimination have been unfairly given a lower priority than other forms of discrimination (i.e.,

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gender, race) in research, although some do suggest that religion is inherently different from

other identities (because it is a choice rather than a characteristic), resulting in the need for

religious discrimination claims to be narrowed (Pearson, 2016). Meer and Modood (2009)

identified several possible reasons for such attitudes. First, there is an assumption that protection

from racism cannot be extended to Muslims because their Muslim identity is voluntarily chosen.

Second, “religion is frowned upon by contemporary intelligentsia” (p. 353), so denigrating

Muslims is part of a healthy intellectual debate. Third, not providing religious minorities with the

same welcoming attitudes as ethnic minorities means the Muslim community may be provided

support for other marginalized identities such as being people of color but not for their

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“Muslimness.” Lastly, some still perceive Muslims as untrustworthy and disloyal due to
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associations with terrorism therefore, they found it difficult to acknowledge Muslims, who are

still viewed as a threat, as a disadvantaged minority group. Moreover, it is argued that Muslims
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receive much less sympathy about racism than other religious minorities as well (Meer, &

Modood, 2009; Meer, & Noorani 2008). Such perspectives, and attitudes are evidence of the

need for more research to understand religious discrimination and its impact on Muslims.
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It is important to note that being exposed to discrimination has been linked to increased

psychological distress, decreased well-being, and poor mental health for a various minority

groups (Jasperse, Ward, & Jose, 2012; Silveira, & Allebeck, 2001; Williams, Neighbors, &

Jackon, 2003). However, more specific studies are required to fully grasp the impact of religious

discrimination on Muslim Americans. Recent studies have started to address this issue and

revealed some relationships between various mental health indicators such as anxiety and

paranoia (Rippy & Newman, 2006), personal control (Moradi, 2004), life satisfaction, sense of

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safety, quality of life (Abu-Ras et al., 2018) and perceived religious discrimination among

Muslim Americans.

Statement of the Problem

According to The International Migration Report of the United Nations, there are an

estimated 258 million people living in a country other than the country of their birth. The United

States was the top destination for international migrants, with nearly 44 million immigrants (one-

fifth of the world’s immigrants) living in the U.S. in 2016 (Migration Policy Institute, 2018).

Immigration has changed American society by increasing racial, ethnic, and religious diversity

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over the years (Mossakowski, 2007). However, just as these diverse immigrants have been

transforming American society, they have been transformed by the difficulties of adapting to a
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new culture (Westermeyer, 1989).

Immigration often includes facing meaningful and sometimes difficult barriers while
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integrating to the new culture, such as learning the new country’s language, raising children in a

new, unfamiliar culture, securing a job, having a steady income, and finding a home. However,
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there are additional challenges immigrants face due to immigration laws in the United States. For

decades, researchers have studied the experiences of immigrants and the challenges they face due

to the ever-changing immigration enforcement (Hacker et al., 2011).

Due to the many restrictions resulting from U. S. immigration laws, immigrants often

experience a heightened fear of profiling and deportation (Hacker et al., 2011). A recent study

compared immigration enforcement stress and self-rated health before and after an immigration

raid among Latinx immigrants and found significantly higher level of stress and lower self-rated

health scores (Lopez et al., 2017). Another study with data from US citizens and permanent

residents of Mexican ancestry in the Arizona border region, found that 25% of the participants

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were exposed to immigration related mistreatment and 75% of the episodes happened in a

community location. In general, their narratives also suggested how much this kind of

mistreatment is being normalized (Sabo et al., 2014).

Since the majority of Muslim Americans are immigrants or children of immigrants (Pew

Research Center, 2017), they are similarly at high risk of being impacted by U.S. immigration

laws and regulations. Although some research has studied the effects of immigration laws on

Muslim Americans’ mental health and well-being, studies examining how the regulations during

Trump’s presidency are affecting Muslim Americans are very limited (Abu-Ras et al., 2018).

Further research exploring Muslim Americans within the current political climate that examines

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the various factors influencing their perceptions, identity, and experiences is essential.

Religious Discrimination
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Research shows that religious discrimination is a major risk factor for poor mental health
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among immigrants (Jasperse at al., 2012; Maliepaard, Gijseberts, & Phalet, 2015; Oberoi, &

Trickett, 2018). The current political climate has increased Islamophobia in the U.S. which
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includes stigmatization, hatred, fear, dislike and discrimination of Muslims (Bleich, 2011).

According to a recent Pew Research Center survey (2017), 50% of Muslim Americans reported

being Muslim in the U.S. has gotten more difficult in recent years; 48% said they have

experienced at least one incident of discrimination in the past 12 months; and 75% think there is

a lot of discrimination against Muslims in the U.S. Negative attitudes and discrimination against

Arab and Muslims apparently have increased since the 2016 presidential election (Arab

American Institute, 2017). Given that anti-Muslim rhetoric has intensified since the 2016

presidential election campaign of Donald Trump, it is not surprising that Muslim Americans

have reported increased levels of discrimination.

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 This dissertation study, however, will focus on perceived religious discrimination which

is a somewhat different construct than religious discrimination as it relies on the individual’s

subjective report, whether it is a discriminatory act or not, as not every member of a minority

group would identify the same events as discriminatory.

Acculturation

As immigrants arrive in the United States, they soon begin the process of acculturation

which research has shown affects their mental health and well-being. Acculturation is a process

where individuals or groups learn and adopt aspects of the dominant sociocultural environments

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(Berry, 2005). It has been studied frequently and researchers have generally agreed that the stress

caused by acculturation, often called acculturative stress, is directly or indirectly harmful to

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minority mental health and well-being (Goebert, 2009). Acculturative stress is also defined as;

stress as a reaction to challenging factors individuals experience while trying to integrate and
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adapt to the dominant culture (Berry, 1997). A longitudinal study by Sirin, Ryce, Gupta, and

Rogers-Sirin (2013) found that greater exposure to acculturative stress predicted significantly
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more withdrawn, somatic and anxious/depressed symptoms among immigrant adolescents.

Additionally, a positive and significant relationship was found between acculturative stress and

internalized mental health symptoms. Adolescents who experienced higher levels of

acculturative stress were more likely to attribute mental health symptoms to their personality.

These findings support a connection between acculturative stress and negative mental health

outcomes.

Studies about acculturative stress among Muslim Americans, however, have shown

contradictory results. While some studies found significant positive relationships between

acculturation and mental health outcomes such as internalizing the problems (Goforth, Pham,

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Chun, Catro-Olivo, & Yosai, 2016), having psychological problems (Goforth, Oka, Leong, &

Denis, 2014; Ibrahim-Joudeh, 2015), or creating psychological distress (Ahmed, & Kia-Keating,

2011), others have failed to find those relationships (e.g., Elghoroury, 2017). These contradictory

findings may be explained by moderator factors affecting Muslim Americans’ acculturation

process such as religious commitment (Bagasra, 2010) or collective self-esteem (Nguyen, 2017).

Religious Commitment

Religious commitment may have both positive and negative effects on minority mental

health in regards to perceived religious discrimination and the acculturation process. Religious

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commitment may provide social support, labeled religious social-support (Abu-Ras, 2008;

Mawani, 2014), and predict perceived religious discrimination (Jordanova et al., 2015) among
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minorities.

Similarly, among Muslim Americans, religious commitment may be a risk factor by

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making them more vulnerable to religious discrimination. For example, in one study of Muslim

Americans, the majority of participants stated that they believed their appearance made them
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more vulnerable to harassment and discrimination (Abu-Raiya, Pargament, & Mahoney, 2011).

Empirical literature suggests this increased level of discrimination toward Muslim Americans is

often a result of visible markers of Islam (e.g., hijab, long beard, kufies) (Ikizler & Szymanski,

2017). However, most of the studies which report increased level of religious discrimination

toward Muslims have used religious affiliation as a demographic classification, but have not

focused on role of the religiosity or religious commitment (Ikizler & Szymanski, 2017).

Collective Self-esteem

Self-esteem. There have been several factors identified within the process of perceiving

discrimination. One of the common factors affecting perceived discrimination is self-esteem

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which has been used as a proxy for well-being, and health in studies (i.e., Jang, Bucy, & Cho,

2018; Orth, Erol, Ledermann, & Grob, 2018; Yamaguchi, Akutsu, Oshio, & Kim, 2017). Pierre

and Mahalik’s study (2005) showed that Black Americans who are better able to resist race

discrimination also report higher levels of self-esteem. Similarly, Moradi, and Subich (2004)

found that acts of gender discrimination towards women are more easily dismissed by women

who hold higher levels of self-esteem, and these acts of discrimination are more damaging to

women who have lower self-esteem.

Studies have found that immigrants from different racial and ethnic backgrounds had

better mental health than their U.S. born counterparts (Alegria, Mulvaney-Day, Torres, Polo,

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Cao, & Canino, 2007; Williams, Haile, Gonzalez, Neighbors, Baser, & Jackson, 2007).
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However, some studies have shown that when perceived discrimination was low, self-esteem,

pride, resiliency, self-worth, ethnic and religious membership might serve as protective factors
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for immigrants from stress. However, when perceived discrimination was high, these factors

usually had no effect (Lee, 2005; Noh, Beiser, Kaspar, Hou, & Rummens, 1999). These results

suggest that self-esteem might moderate the relations between perceived religious discrimination
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and mental health outcomes, however, levels of discrimination should be considered.

Collective self-esteem, is a broader term which describes individual self-concept that is

focused on how one interacts with others including one’s own reference groups (Oulalili, Bos,

van den Akker, Fukkink, Merry, & Overbeek, 2017). It was derived from Tajfel’s social identity

theory (1981) that suggests self-concept as having two components, personal and collective

identity. Studies have shown that being a part of a social group in general increases one’s self

and collective self-esteem (Oulalili et al., 2017); therefore, being part of a religious group may

create this effect for religious minority groups (Constantine, Donnelly, & Myers, 2002). Hence,

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since Muslims are a more collectivistic cultural group (Gregg, 2007) collective self-esteem may

provide a deeper understanding of Muslim Americans’ self-concept.

Although there have been some studies that measured the effects of collective self-esteem

among minority groups such as African Americans and Latinxs (Constantine et al., 2002;

Duenas, 2017), similar studies with Muslim Americans are very limited. Only one study exists in

literature that assessed the collective self-esteem of Muslim Americans. Nguyen (2017) studied

the relations between religious based social support and collective self-esteem in Muslim

Americans and found that mosque-based emotional support was positively associated with

collective self-esteem while negative interactions with congregants were negatively associated

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with collective self-esteem.

Research Questions
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The purpose of this research is to explore the relationships among perceived religious
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discrimination, religious commitment, acculturation, and collective self-esteem in Muslim

Americans in the Trump era. Based on previous research and literature regarding these variables
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and Muslim Americans, several research questions will be investigated.

The three primary research questions are:

1. Are there any differences between Muslim Americans’ perceived religious

discrimination before and after the Trump era?

2. What relations exist among perceived religious discrimination, religious commitment,

acculturation, and collective self-esteem in Muslim Americans during the Trump era?

3. Do any of the demographic variables predict the perceived religious discrimination

acculturation, religious commitment, and collective self-esteem in Muslim Americans

during the Trump era?

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 Additional analysis will be conducted to ascertain whether relationships exist among

demographics variables, and three independent variables (religious commitment, acculturation,

and collective self-esteem). Therefore, the secondary questions consist of:

1. Do any of demographic variables predict the religious commitment of Muslim

Americans?

2. Do any of demographic variables predict the acculturation of Muslim Americans?

3. Do any of demographic variables predict collective self-esteem of Muslim

Americans?

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Significance of the Study

Islamophobia, or anti-Muslim attitudes, has been increasing in the United States in recent
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years, and Muslim Americans have often been victims of religious discrimination and hate

crimes under the Trump administration. According to a recent Pew Research Center’s survey
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(2017), a majority of US Muslims (68%) say Trump makes them feel worried. Another recent

report from California State University San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and
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Extremism (2016) highlighted that there was a drastic (78%) increase on hate crimes against

Muslim Americans between 2014 to 2015. Moreover, the Pew Research Center reported similar

drastic rise in assaults between 2015 to 2016 based on FBI records. In 2016, there were 127

reported victims of a hate crime compared with 91 the year before and 93 in 2001 (Pew Research

Center, 2017). These results suggest that current assaults and hatred against Muslims in the

United States have surpassed levels from 2001. These discriminatory acts surely have negative

effects on Muslim Americans’ well-being. Also, according to a recent study (Abu-Ras et al.,

2018), Muslim Americans who are women, youths, single, employed, and less educated reported

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more perceived religious discrimination, which intensifies the potential risk to their mental

health and well-being.

Although religious commitment and acculturation are frequently studied constructs in

research on immigrant mental health, perceived religious discrimination and collective self-

esteem are relatively new constructs in the field that have not been adequately studied.

Moreover, these variables have been rarely studied specifically in the Muslim American

population or during the Trump era. Though limited, existing research suggests that the actions

and rhetoric of the 45th President of the U.S., Donald J. Trump, have significantly affected the

mental health and well-being of Muslim Americans (Abu-Ras et al., 2018) as well as other

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marginalized populations (Nichols, LeBron, & Pedreza, 2018; Wray-Lake, Wells, Alvis,
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Delgado, Syvertsen, & Metzger, 2018). Thus, this study aims to explore the relations among

these variables in order to understand the risks and indicators of mental health problems affecting
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Muslim Americans in the current sociopolitical climate. Such research is essential to the

culturally relevant and meaningful delivery of mental health services. Moreover, Muslim

Americans may benefit from appropriate interventions if the gap in literature about this
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population’s risks and protective factors on their mental health can be adequately addressed.

Definitions of Terms

Several key terms will be used and referenced throughout this dissertation and are

defined below.

Perceived religious discrimination. According to Kolb (2008), “Religious

discrimination takes place when one person is treated less favorably than another is, has been, or

would be treated in a comparable situation on the grounds of religion” (p. 1811). There are two

types of discriminations (Sellers & Shelton, 2003): (a) overt (direct), where this less favorable

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 treatment occurs unmasked, and (b) covert (indirect), where an apparent neutral provision,

criterion, or practice places individuals with a particular religion or belief at a particular

disadvantage compared with other persons (Kolb, 2008, p. 1811).

However, the term perceived represents individual differences in religious discrimination

whereby Rippy and Newman (2006) defines perceived religious discrimination as: “Individual

differences that may contribute to an individual’s perception of a situation as discriminatory” (p.

7). Overall, the term perceived religious discrimination refers to individual understanding or

perception of religious discrimination.

Acculturation. Although acculturation, in contrast to assimilation, is defined as an

W
adaptation process that immigrants and the host society experience as a result of their interaction
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with the host culture, the majority of research that studies immigration health simplifies the

definition to mean the adjustment of immigrants (Takeuchi 2016). However, this term
EV
acculturation also refers to a multifaceted process which directly or indirectly affects the mental

health or well-being of Muslims Americans.

Phinney (1996) described acculturation as: “… a multidimensional process that includes

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one’s orientation to both one’s ethnic culture and the larger society” (p. 922). Later, Balls-

Organista, Marin & Chun (2010) described acculturation similarly as: “A dynamic and

multidimensional process of adaptation that occurs when distinct cultures come into sustained

contact. It involves different degrees and instances of culture learning and maintenance that are

contingent upon individual, group, and environmental factors” (p. 105).

Religious commitment. Bagasra (2010) defined religious commitment as: “… the degree

to which an individual engages in practices that are expected by the religious institution of a

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