Acculturation, religious identity, and psychological well-being among Palestinians in Israel Hisham Motkal Abu-Rayya a, *, Maram Hussien Abu-Rayya b a School of Psychology, Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia b Faculty of Education and Social Work, Sydney University, Sydney, Australia 1. Introduction Acculturation is defined as comprehending ‘‘those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different [ethnic] cultures come into continuous first-hand contact with subsequent changes in the original [ethnic] culture patterns of either or both groups’’ (Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936, p. 149). At a fundamental level, then, acculturation involves alterations in minority individuals’ ethnic identities (Berry, 1997; Birman, 1994; Castro, 2003). Within the scheme of acculturation theory, Berry’s (1997) fourfold acculturation paradigm represents the most influential model, notably positing acculturation as a two-dimensional process in which, firstly, minority individuals adopt to some degree important features of the dominant society, and secondly, individuals to a certain degree maintain their native ethnicity. It is contended that these two identity-dimensions are conceptually distinct and vary independently (Berry, 1997; Sam & Berry, 1995). Hence, it is possible according to Berry’s (1997) theorization to distinguish four acculturation identification styles resulting from an interaction between the two underlying dimensions. Specifically in terms of this schema, integrated individuals have a strong identification with their native ethnicity and the mainstream society; separated individuals exhibit lower levels of identification with the dominant society, while identifying strongly with their original International Journal of Intercultural Relations 33 (2009) 325–331 ARTICLE INFO Article history: Accepted 19 May 2009 Keywords: Israeli Palestinians Muslims Acculturation Religious identity Psychological well-being ABSTRACT This study examined relationships between Palestinian ethnic identity, Israeli identity, religious identity, and psychological well-being among 520 indigenous Muslim Palestinians (36% males and 64% females) in Israel. The sample ranged in age between 17 and 38 years, with a mean of 24.18 (S.D. = 4.23). Analyses revealed that participants’ immersion in their Palestinian ethnicity and their immersion in Israeli society were negatively correlated to a statistically significant degree. This finding disconfirms Berry’s (1997) hypothesis of independence between minority individuals’ identification with their minority group and their identification as members of the majority group within the Israeli Palestinian context. Participants were statistically significantly more immersed in their Palestinian ethnicity than in Israeli society. Additionally, increased degrees of religious identification among participants contributed statistically significantly posi- tively to their Palestinian ethnic identification and negatively to their identification as Israeli. Analyses revealed that while participants’ Palestinian ethnic identification and religious identity contributed statistically significantly to their psychological well-being, an Israeli identification made no such contribution. ß 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 290367850. E-mail address: hishama@psych.usyd.edu.au (H.M. Abu-Rayya). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Intercultural Relations journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijintrel 0147-1767/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2009.05.006