Personal identity and life satisfaction among young national religious Israeli women: The contribution of personal characteristics, perception of the relationships with the mother and use of social media

In the last few years, researchers and therapists have started to focus on  young men and women over the age of eighteen, in order to assist them with developing an adult personal identity. One of the least studied populations so far in this context, are Israeli young modern orthodox women (YMOW), who compared to young secular women are located in a tender crossroad between the Halacha (Jewish religious laws) and the technological developments that increasingly define living in the modern world.

This study aims to broaden the existing knowledge about this population. Its  theoretical framework is based on sociological and psychological theories that deal with personal identity formation (Erickson,1963,1966; Marcia,1966, 1980; Luyckx, Goossens & Soenens, 2006); the properties of the  developmental period known as "emerging adulthood" (Arnett, 2000, 2015) and on empirical findings derived from the professional literature. Specifically, the study examines the unique and the integrated contribution of personal characteristics (sexual self, religious coping strategies and sense of mastery), perception of the relationships with the mother and the use of social media, in order to predict the various dimensions of identity (commitment making; identification with commitment; exploration in breadth; and ruminative exploration) and satisfaction with life. 

For the purposes of identifying the unique variables that contribute to one’s identity, as well as satisfaction with life among YMOW, a comparison with a group of secular women of the same age was carried out. Thus additional aims of the study were to examine whether there are differences among the study'ss variables between YMOW and secular young women: whether the sexual self schema moderates the relationship between religious coping strategy and dimensions of identity and further more,  whether the relationship with the mother moderates the association  between religious coping strategies and satisfaction with life.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 362 young women - 231 modern orthodox and  131 secular (comparison group) - aged 18-31 (emerging adulthood period). After they gave their consent to participate in the study, the participants completed structured questionnaires that included: demographic information; Dimensions of Identity Development Scale ( DIDS); the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS); women's sexual self – schema; Jewish Religious Coping Scale (JCOPE); Sense of Mastery Scale (SMS); the Network of Relationships Inventory: Relationship Qualities Version (NRI-IQV) and  Social Media Engagement scale (SME).

The main findings of the study indicate that young modern orthodox women (research group) are characterized by higher satisfaction with life, lower sexual self and more  usage of Jewish religious strategies, compared to young secular women (comparison group).  Among the research group, it was also found that  older age and romantic  relationship are associated with higher values of commitment dimension. Romantic relationships were also found to be associated with more satisfaction with life. In addition, it was found that high sexual self,  high sense of mastery and supportive relationship with the mother were associated with high commitment and more satisfaction with life.

The study also indicates that negative religious coping strategy is associated with more ruminative exploration, while romantic relationship and high sense of mastery are associated with less ruminative exploration and likewise to less exploration in breadth. Finally, it was found that sharing information with friends and relatives using social media, is associated with less exploration in breadth.

In the context of the interactive associations between the variables, it was found that high sexual self moderates the association between positive religious coping strategy and the identification with commitment dimension among the research group, while low sexual self moderates that relation among the comparison group. In addition, it was found that less supportive relationship with the mother, moderates the association between positive religious coping strategy and satisfaction with life, among both groups.

The importance of this study, first and foremost, is that it focuses on the examination of the associations between variables in which were never studied comprehensively among YMOW. The study's theoretical and practical contribution is laid out in a map of variables that could  contribute to the personal identity formation process and to increase satisfaction with life among these young women. Finally, the findings of this research may help professionals who work with both YMOW and secular women, to build empirically based indivdual, family and community interventions.