The Ahmadiyya group's resilience to prejudice in the Indonesian context

Abstract

Members of the minority Ahmadiyya group in Indonesia are subject to prejudice from the Indonesian Muslim majority for their beliefs. This prejudice can be seen in both offline and online settings, including in social media communications. The purpose of this study is to determine the ability of the Ahmadiyya to build resilience to this adversity. Adopting a social identity lens, this thesis argues that resilience to prejudice can be strengthened through group membership. A mixed methods study was conducted to examine the role of group identification in building resilience. Participants were members of the Indonesian Ahmadiyya group who responded to an online survey and took part in interviews. Data were collected using three methods: an online survey via Qualtrics, individual interviews via Zoom and textual analysis of social media content using N Capture. Total participants were 726 involving Studies 1, 1b and 2. Data analysis used structural equational modelling (SEM) for Studies 1 and 1b and thematic analysis for Studies 2 and 3. The findings of Studies 1 and 1b demonstrated the role of group identification to resilience. While Studies 2 and 3 found that sharing a sense of social identity can contribute to resilience to prejudice. As a results, those findings support a group-based resilience to prejudice into two core strategies: group rejection identification and sharing a sense of social identity in communication. Perceiving rejection can lead to group identification, where individuals internalise the group’s norms and values, leading to group engagement. In addition, sharing a social identity through social media helps build resilience through social creativity and social competition strategies. This study is important because it highlights ways in which minority groups can build resilience and the role of social identity in this process.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Supervisor	Craig McGarty (Supervisor), Nida Denson (Supervisor), Cindy Harmon-Jones (Supervisor) & Mary Hawkins (Supervisor)