IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v16y2026i2p63-d1864151.html

Psychosocial Correlates of Social Problem-Solving and Empathy Among Youth in Fifteen Muslim Societies

Author

Listed:
  • Ilham Nasser

    (Salam Institute for Peace and Justice, Washington, DC 20005, USA)

  • Mohammed Abu-Nimer

    (School of International Service, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
    Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Peace and Intercultural Understanding (CPIU), University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa)

Abstract

This article is based on a study that surveyed youth in Muslim-majority societies to investigate the competencies that support youths’ problem-solving skills and empathy. More specifically, it aims to examine attitudes towards psychosocial skills, including self-regulation, forgiveness, religiosity/spirituality, collective orientation, social problem solving, and empathy. The survey focused on youth (N = 15,790) in secondary and higher education (ages 18 and under and 18–24) from 15 Muslim-majority societies. The 2020–2021 survey findings reveal that age, gender, and group differences significantly affect collectivistic orientation, self-regulation, and problem-solving. Additionally, the results support the hypothesis that all variables except forgiveness predict empathy and problem-solving among Muslim youth. By including skills essential to modern life, such as empathy and problem-solving, and by exploring their roles in youth development and social interactions, the study highlights social and cultural attitudes toward these psychosocial, personal, and interpersonal skills, especially among youth in Muslim societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilham Nasser & Mohammed Abu-Nimer, 2026. "Psychosocial Correlates of Social Problem-Solving and Empathy Among Youth in Fifteen Muslim Societies," Societies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-14, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:16:y:2026:i:2:p:63-:d:1864151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/16/2/63/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/16/2/63/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:16:y:2026:i:2:p:63-:d:1864151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.