Feeling Out Identity: The Effect of Muslim American Identifications on Emotional Experiences of Anger, Fear and Sadness

In the fraught sociopolitical climate of modern America, how do Muslim Americans' identities affect their emotions' Previous research has shown that devaluation of U.S. Muslims during the 2016 election affected Muslim Americans? emotional experiences, but literature investigating the relationship between identification and emotion has largely ignored the Muslim American population. The present study explored the relationship between identification and the emotions of anger, fear, and sadness in 89 Muslim Americans. Participants responded to questions about Muslim and American identification, as well as their appraisals, feelings, action tendencies and coping responses in reaction to the devaluation of U.S. Muslims. Strength of both Muslim and American identification was high among participants; high levels of anger, fear and sadness were also observed. Both Muslim and American identification had different relationships with feelings, action tendencies and coping responses. Overall, Muslim identification was positively associated with anger and religious coping and seemed to drive positive responses to address the devaluation experienced. American identification was negative associated with anger and positively associated with disengagement and seemed to drive responses avoiding the situation. This study contributes to research investigating the relationship between identification and emotional experiences and adds to the scarce literature on Muslim Americans in this field, showing that both Muslim and American identification have a significant impact on Muslim Americans? emotional experiences.