Perceived Discrimination and Well-Being among Women in a Majority Muslim Country: Religious Identity as Moderator

Women in majority of the countries face discrimination and Muslim women in a Muslim majority country may not an exception to it. However, the discrimination of Muslim women in a Muslim majority country may not necessarily be based on religion. Due to the scarcity of research on the discrimination of Muslim women in Muslim countries, the present study has examined the relationship between perceived discrimination, religious identity and well-being of Muslim women. Using social identity theory as the framework of the study, we argue that religious identity as a form of social identity, can act to moderate the negative effects of discrimination on well-being. In a sample of 186 women aged 18 to 52 our results showed that Muslim women in a majority Muslim country do face discrimination, but their discrimination is more structural and ubiquitous. Religious identity was found to be generally beneficial to well-being. Religious identity was also found to exacerbate the negative relationship between discrimination and life satisfaction. The results are discussed in relation to the literature on discrimination, religion, religious identity and well-being. These results supported our earlier prediction that Muslim women in Muslim countries do experience discrimination but the discrimination is not because of the religion.