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Vol. 11 No. 1 (2026)
Special Issue: Faith-Informed Mental Wellbeing and Resilience

Special Issue: Faith-Informed Mental Wellbeing and Resilience

Sense of Belonging Among Muslim Youth in New Zealand: Navigating Discrimination Through Reactive Religiosity and Dissimulation

https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v11i1.1387

Published 11.04.2026

  • Hussain Raissi
    • ,
  • Mariska Kappmeier
Hussain Raissi
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Mariska Kappmeier
Department of Psychology, University of Otago

Abstract

This study examines the sense of belonging and coping strategies of Muslim immigrant youth in New Zealand in the context of perceived discrimination. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 20 Muslim youth aged 16 to 29, the study explores how participants navigate belonging to the Muslim community and wider New Zealand society. Analysed through frameworks of multiple belonging, reactive religiosity, and dissimulation, the findings reveal that the majority of participants maintain layered identifications, prioritising Muslim identity while expressing genuine attachment to New Zealand. However, discrimination, particularly targeting hijab-wearing women, threatens wellbeing by conveying rejection and exclusion, eroding the sense of safety and acceptance that belonging requires. In response, participants employ adaptive coping strategies: some strengthen their religious identity and community ties (reactive religiosity), which buffer against psychological harm through collective solidarity. Others conceal aspects of their identity in hostile contexts (dissimulation), which offers immediate protection but carries longer-term psychological costs, including diminished self-confidence, feelings of shame, and reduced capacity for authentic identity expression. These findings underscore the active, strategic responses (agency) of Muslim youth while highlighting the differential wellbeing implications of each coping strategy for inclusive policymaking.

Keywords

sense of belonging, Muslim youth, discrimination, New Zealand, reactive religiosity, dissimulation, multiple belonging

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