Psychological Traits Of Mixed-Ethnic Arab-European Adolescents In Israel

This study compared the psychological characteristics of 127 mixed-ethnic Arab-European adolescents and 196 mono-ethnic Arabs aged between 12 and 18 years who resided in Israel. Findings revealed significant differences in favor of the mono-ethnic participants in areas of self-esteem, quality of life, environmental mastery, and positive relations with others. In a similar pattern where higher scores are indicative of worse adjustment, mixed-ethnic adolescents, had significantly higher scores than their mono-ethnic counterparts on psycho-physiological symptoms, anxiety, and depression. In terms of Arab ethnic identification, differences between mixed- and mono-ethnic participants were found to be non-significant. At the ego identity level, the study's mixed-ethnic adolescents were significantly more often identified as 'diffused' subjects, and significantly less often identified as having attained an 'achieved' ego identity in comparison to their mono-ethnic Arab peers.