When Including others Mediates the Relationships between Identity and Well-being across Dutch and Lebanese Youth

Currently, over 22% of the Dutch come from foreign backgrounds (Statistics Netherlands, 2017). Such diversity heightens the awareness of cultural differences between an individual’s in-group and out-group and often strengthens the feelings of belonging to one’s cultural group. According to social identity theory, members of a group are motivated to achieve a positive in-group identity, which derives from favourable comparisons between in-groups and out-groups. In comparison in the Lebanese context, group identification is constructed around sectarian belonging, and common national identity is almost absent in comparison with for example Dutch in the Netherlands. This can be attributed to the 30-year long civil war that ended with a consociational division of political power, which further segregated sects in Lebanon. In this study, we focus on inclusion and its mediation between identity and well-being for Dutch and Lebanese youth. In doing so, we aim to understand contextual contributions (culturally diverse vs sectarian) to the potential benefits of inclusion. Data is being collected from Dutch and Lebanese youth in the Inclusive Identity across Cultures Project. We will conduct a multigroup structural equation analysis using AMOS, testing whether inclusion mediates the relationship between identity and well-being, since inclusion serves as a meaning, purpose and belonging. We discuss our results in light of the increasing diversity within the Netherlands, people feel the pressure to re-affirm their identity and within Lebanon, continued subthreshold sectarian conflict emphasised exclusion of outgroups with important implications regarding overall wellbeing in both contexts.