Religious Identity, Ethnic Identity, and Personality Characteristics as Predictors of Educational Identity Among Arabs in Israel

Understanding the factors that influence educational identity in societal contexts is essential, especially within diverse contexts of minority groups. The current pioneering study investigates the complex relationships among religious and ethnic identities, self-mastery, and self-esteem as predictors of educational identity, mediated by optimism (positive life orientation) within a sample of 702 twelfth-grade high school students and educated individuals from the multifaceted ethnic Arab minority in Israel. I collected data via validated and reliable structured questionnaires. Findings reveal low to moderate levels of optimism (positive life orientation), self-mastery, and self-esteem, accompanied by a strong sense of religious identity and pride in religion. Furthermore, positive correlations were discovered among the various identities, self-esteem, self-mastery, and optimism. The hypothesized model of positive life orientation (i.e., optimism) mediating the relationship among religious identity, ethnic identity, self-esteem, self-mastery, and educational identity demonstrated a robust fit across all indices, unveiling direct and indirect pathways linking religious identity, ethnic identity, self-esteem, self-mastery, and educational identity, mediated by optimism (positive life orientations) and controlled by age. The results underscore the need for governments and educational systems to provide opportunities for minorities to explore and deepen their identities.