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The Unifying And Divisive Effects Of Social Identities: Religious And Ethnopolitical Identities Among Mindanao Muslims In The Philippines, Ma. Elizabeth J. Macapagal, Jose Jowel P. Canuday, Cristina J. Montiel

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

The present study looks into the unifying and divisive effects of ethnopolitical and religious social identities, and an emerging superordinate Bangsamoro identity of Muslims in the southern region of the Philippines. We surveyed 394 Muslims with a mean age of 32.6 and standard deviation of 13.3 from the Tausug, Maranao, and Maguindanaoan ethnopolitical affiliations using various measures of social identities. Findings showed that the Muslims in our sample identify themselves more strongly with their religious identity over their ethnopolitical affiliations. Religious identity may thus be a unifying element in the conflict-ridden context of Mindanao, as a significant correlation was also …