From Persecution to Perseverance: A Study of Adversity and Adaptive Coping in Karachi’s Shia Community

This cross-sectional quantitative study examined sectarian differences in perceived religious discrimination and psychological resilience among Sunni and Shia Muslims in Karachi, Pakistan. It was hypothesized that (H1) Shias would report higher discrimination, (H2) Shias would exhibit greater resilience despite this, and (H3) discrimination would predict lower resilience in Sunnis but not Shias. A purposive sample of 200 adults (100 Shia, 100 Sunni) completed the Religious Discrimination Scale (α = .904) and Brief Resilience Scale (α = .820). Shias reported higher discrimination (M = 2.45) than Sunnis (M = 1.33; d ≈ 1.70) and greater resilience (M = 4.08 vs. 3.39; d ≈ 0.90). Discrimination predicted lower resilience in Sunnis (β= –.47, p = .008) but not in Shias (β ≈ –.01, p = .914). Findings highlight Shias’ collective resilience and support sect-specific psychosocial interventions. Generative AI (ChatGPT) was used solely for structuring, paraphrasing, and refining academic tone.