| The nature of Jewish identity was investigated in this study. It was suggested that Jewish identity is an ethnic identity, which is different from Jewish identification. It was also suggested that Jewish ethnic identity is related to measures of well-being and religiosity and spirituality. The instruments of this study included the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, the Collective Self-Esteem Scale, the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, the National Jewish Population Survey Identification Scale, the Global Spirituality Assessment Inventory, the Religious Orientation Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Two samples of participants completed these measures on the Internet. The first sample consisted of college students recruited from the Research Experience Program at The Ohio State University. The second sample was recruited from various organizations in the community.;The findings of this study indicate that Jewish identity is an ethnic identity. Jewish ethnic identity was positively correlated with Jewish Identification, lower rates of depression, higher self-esteem, and higher rates of satisfaction with life. Jewish ethnic identity was also found to be related to measures of religiosity and spirituality, and this relationship was moderated by Jewish identification. |
