Ethnic Identity as Social Curse: Intergenerational Transmission of Historical Trauma

Abstract

High ethnic identification is known to support well-being. In the context of historical trauma, however, a sense of belonging to a persecuted community can contribute to social curse processes. This study explores the relationship between ethnic identity and mental distress among second- and third-generation Ingrian women with a family history of displacement and ethnic persecution. It analyses the intergenerational transmission of historical trauma by investigating whether mothers' stronger ethnic identities contribute to daughters' greater mental distress, and whether this relationship is more pronounced in mother-daughter pairs where a mother knows more than her daughter about the family's traumatic past. We analyse dyadic data from 94 mothers (i.e., second generation, M_age = 64.9 years, SD = 9.8) and 94 daughters (i.e., third generation, M_age = 36.8 years, SD = 12.2) using the actor-partner interdependence model and the structural equation modelling framework. We find a positive relationship between a mother's ethnic identity and both her own mental distress and that of her daughter, a relationship intensified when a mother knows more than her daughter about the family's traumatic past. Our findings demonstrate the intergenerational carryover of collective victimisation. They also suggest that knowledge of past events can hinder intergenerational social curse processes and the transmission of historical trauma.