Empowering Participation or Pushing Boundaries? Self-Efficacy, Activism, and Radicalism among Unemployed Pashtun and Baloch University Graduates in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Unemployment among university graduates poses serious psychological and sociopolitical challenges, particularly for ethnic minority groups in developing societies. The present study examined the relationships between self-efficacy, collective action intention (activism), and radicalism among unemployed Pashtun and Baloch university graduates in Punjab, Pakistan. Using a cross-sectional correlational design, data were collected from 235 graduates who had remained unemployed for at least one year after completing their degrees from universities located in Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, and Multan and living in those cities’ hostels. Standardized measures of self-efficacy, activism intention, and radicalism intention were administered. Pearson product–moment correlation and independent-samples t-tests were used for data analysis. Findings revealed that self-efficacy was positively associated with activism and negatively associated with radicalism. Moreover, Pashtun graduates reported significantly higher activism compared to Baloch graduates, while no significant ethnic differences were found in self-efficacy and radicalism. The findings indicate that psychological efficacy plays a critical role in channeling unemployment-related frustration into constructive collective engagement rather than extreme orientations. The study underscores the importance of empowerment-focused interventions for unemployed ethnic minority graduates to promote healthy civic participation and social stability.