Risk-resilience dynamics of ideological factors in distress after the evacuation From Gush Katif

The aim of the present study was to examine the role of ideological commitment and national attachment in distress experienced by Jewish evacuees from Gaza and the West Bank, Israel ("Gush Katif"), 6 years after their forced evacuation. Fifty-one evacuees from Israeli settlements in Gush Katif completed web-administered self-report questionnaires tapping their levels of ideological commitment, national attachment, and psychological distress.Ideological commitment was found to be positively associated with stress (β = .33, p < .01) and depression (β = .25, p < .05). On the other hand, national attachment was found to be negatively associated with stress (β = -.24, p < .05) and depression (β = -.43, p < .001). A statistically significant interaction was found between national attachment and ideological commitment such that when ideological commitment was high, national attachment was associated with lower levels of depression, but when national attachment was low, ideological commitment was associated with higher levels of depression. Our findings are consistent with the conceptualization of a complex vulnerability-resilience dynamic in which different facets of political ideology may have complex and sometimes contradicting effects on psychological well-being.