“We are the soul, pearl and beauty of Hindu Kush Mountains”: exploring resilience and psychological wellbeing of Kalasha, an ethnic and religious minority group in Pakistan

The Kalasha are a marginalized ethnic and religious minority group in northern Pakistan. The Kalasha minority is known for their divergent polytheistic beliefs, and represents the outliers of the collectively monotheistic Muslim population of Pakistan. This study aimed to explore the psychological resilience beliefs and lived experiences of the Kalasha and to identify cultural protective factors and indigenous beliefs that help them maintain psychological wellbeing and resilience. Seven semi-structured interviews and two focus-group discussions were conducted. The total sample consisted of 6 women and 8 men, aged 20–58 years (Mage = 36.29, SD = 12.58). The Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis qualitative method was chosen. Study findings identified that factors contributing to the wellbeing, happiness and resilience enhancement beliefs of Kalasha included five main themes, all influenced by their unique spirituality: contentment, pride in social identity, tolerance, gender collaboration and gratitude. The study also revealed the Kalasha’s perception of their marginalization related to challenges and threats. The Kalasha emphasized bringing these resilience enhancement beliefs into practice, as a mean to buffer against challenges. In conclusion, this study revealed Kalasha’s wellbeing and resilience enhancement factors, which they believed in and practiced as an element of their indigenous culture and religion

Definitions of T

The present research investigates how definitions of national in-group boundaries predict inter-group attitudes in Turkey. In Study 1, we explore definitions of Turkish in-group boundaries as well as perceptions of the Turkish in-group's relations with other groups among 64 university students. In Study 2, conducted among 324 university students, exploratory factor analyses reveal two dimensions of Turkish in-group boundaries: national participation (a more civic definition) and national essentialism (a more ethnic definition). They also reveal four dimensions of the relations with others. Regression analyses show that national participation predicts more negative inter-group attitudes. However, national essentialism is not found to predict the inter-group attitudes. These results are compared with those of previous studies, mostly conducted in Western countries. The comparison suggests that conclusions about the positive role of Civic and the negative role of Ethnic/Cultural definitions in intergroup relations may be less general than is previously thought