Stress, Religious Coping and Wellbeing in Acculturating Muslims

Situated within an international context of Islamophobia, this study examined acculturative stress, religious coping, and their interaction as predictors of subjective wellbeing in 167 New Zealand Muslims. A Muslim Religious Coping (MRC) scale was adapted for the purposes of this study, measuring religious coping across three domains of Cognitive, Behavioral, and Social MRC. Consistent with hypotheses: 1) acculturative stress predicted a lower level of Life Satisfaction and more psychological symptoms, and 2) Behavioral, Cognitive and Social MRC predicted greater Life Satisfaction. In addition, an interaction effect between Acculturative Stress and Behavioral MRC was found indicating that engaging in religious practices buffered the detrimental effects of acculturative stress on life satisfaction. Contrary to the hypotheses, however, MRC did not demonstrate a main or interaction effect on psychological symptoms. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to positive and negative indicators of wellbeing, the importance of religious maintenance as a resource for acculturating Muslims living in a Western country, and the implications for counselors working with Muslim clients.