Abstract

The studies examined social identity, collective action, and individual hopelessness in young adults who were university students living through the severe escalating intergroup conflict in Lebanon in 2007 and 2008. As expected, participants in Study 1 (N =162) viewed the conflict as escalating, potentially leading to a civil war, and as leading to hopelessness. Studies 2 and 3 applied social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel & Turner, 1986) to address the determinants and consequences of social identification and involvement in collective action. As well, a hypothesis was derived from Staw's (1997) escalation of commitment theory. Structural equation modeling was conducted. As expected, participants in Study 2 (N = 566) who perceived the intergroup hierarchy as unstable, illegitimate, and group boundaries as impermeable (i.e., migration between groups is not possible) identified more with their group and were more involved in collective action. As well, social identification and collective action increased individual hopelessness. Perceiving the hierarchy as unstable was also directly linked to less hopelessness. Study 3 (N =278) was a modified replication which focused on perceived instability and social identity as determinants of hopelessness and depressio!1' Parallel effects emerged, and hopelessness was linked to depression. As well, not only did social identification in Study 3 increase depression via hopelessness, but identification unexpectedly also directly decreased depression. Across both studies, perceived instability both increased and decreased hopelessness, via different pathways. The findings reveal complex pathways by which social identity processes influence adjustment. Implications are discussed for SIT and the broader context of Lebanon.