Religious self-regulation, self-determination, resilience, and conflict management strategies in a community sample of international Muslim students in Pakistan

In the present study, two mediational mechanisms, religious self-regulation and self-determination, were hypothesized to account for the relationship between self-resilience and conflict management strategies across a sample of Muslim international students in Pakistan. This correlational study collected data from a university-based sample of 330 young adults (M-age = 22.53, SD = 1.90) enrolled in different programs in Pakistani universities. The study findings suggested that self-resilience was related to religious self-regulation, self-determination, and conflict management strategies. The strength of the relationship ranged from moderate to strong (.25 to .57). Results revealed that religious self-regulation fully mediated the path between self-resilience and conflict management style (e.g., collaborating). Self-determination demonstrated a partially but significantly mediated effect on the conflict management style (i.e., compromising). The current study suggests that religious self-regulation may play an imperative role in learning and executing effective conflict management strategies in international students in Pakistan. Directions for future research and study implications and limitations are also discussed.