Can Identity Buffer Against the Detrimental Effects of Threat? The Case of the Qatar Blockade

Azzam Amin; Jasper Van Assche; Mohamed Abdelrahman; Darragh McCashin; Duaa Al-Adwan; Youssef Hasan

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.750471

Can Identity Buffer Against the Detrimental Effects of Threat? The Case of the Qatar Blockade

Front Psychol. 2022 Mar 30:13:750471. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.750471. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Azzam Amin¹, Jasper Van Assche^{2

3}, Mohamed Abdelrahman¹, Darragh McCashin¹, Duaa Al-Adwan¹, Youssef Hasan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Doha, Qatar.
² Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
³ Center for Social and Cultural Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium.
⁴ Psychology Program, Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.

Abstract

In 2017, the blockade of Qatar Gulf states caused a plethora of effects on the country. This paper sought to examine the resulting threat effects of this blockade in terms of lowered self-esteem and well-being, and the potential buffering effects of an overarching identity. Using self-report questionnaire data from Qatari secondary school students (N = 1,410), multiple moderated mediation models investigated the predictive effects of youngsters' perceived threat, via self-esteem, on their well-being, and the mitigating roles herein of, respectively, national, Gulf region, and Arab identity. Perceived threat was indeed related to lower well-being via lower self-esteem, and this relationship was equally strong for those low and high in social identity. In terms of the three facets of identity, the overarching Gulf identity seems the most predictive, and it even (marginally significantly) buffers the negative relationship between threat and reduced self-esteem.

Keywords: Qatar blockade; national identity; perceived threat; self-esteem; well-being.