In Europe and specifically in Bulgaria, Roma
represent the largest indigenous ethnic minority exposed to
severe discrimination, social exclusion, poverty, and
compromised well-being. To improve their conditions,
identifying sources of psychological well-being for Roma
is theoretically relevant and practically important. This
study investigated the relation between ethnic, familial, and
religious identities as salient collective identity components
for psychological well-being among 194 Roma
adolescents (age: M = 16.11 years, SD = 1.36) and their
mothers (age: M = 35.95 years, SD = 3.54). The results
indicated that in line with marginalization models of
acculturation, Roma youth and their mothers showed a low
endorsement of both Bulgarian mainstream and Roma
ethnic identity. The average scores of well-being were also
low. For both groups, familial identity was stronger compared
to Roma, Bulgarian, and religious identity. A path
model showed that collective identity was a positive predictor
of well-being in both adolescents and mothers and
that the mothers’ collective identity was a predictor of
adolescent well-being. Bulgarian mainstream identity had
the strongest relationship with collective identity. It is
concluded that, for Roma youth and their mothers, family
is an important identity domain as it represents the most
salient identification source that is not challenged in their
environment.