The Identity Difference between the First and Second Generation of Afghan Immigrants to Iran: A Case Study of Hazara Immigrants Resident in Qom in the Year 2017

After the recent crisis in Afghanistan, a large number of Afghan citizens (about two million), most of them Shiites and from the Hazara people emigrated to Iran. The residence of these immigrants has taken place not in the form of a camp and a special place for residing, but in sprawling parts of the country. Many of them have been in Iran for many years, and as a result, the second generation of Afghan immigrants formed who have spent all or most of their lives in Iran and have grown up with Iranian culture. This research seeks to explore the identity, nationality and religion difference between these two generations of immigrants, the generation born in Afghanistan, and then immigrated to Iran, and in 2017 they’ve been a resident of Qom, and a generation born in Iran, and in the same year, they are settled in Qom. This research is applied and problem-oriented in terms of purpose. It is quantitative in terms of data, gathered using a survey method and a questionnaire tool based on the Likert scale in order to observe changes in the Shiite culture of the Hazara people. The findings of inferential analysis (one sample T-test and T-test with two independent samples) indicate that the culture of the Hazaras and Shiites has changed in different parts of the national, religious, and behavioral-normative identity, in both generations.