GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ANXIETY AMONG UNDERGRADUATES FROM SIXTEEN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES

Abstract

This study investigated gender differences in anxiety among volunteer undergraduates recruited from sixteen Islamic countries; Algiers, Egypt, Emirates, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen (N= 7,506). The Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (Abdel-Khalek, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004) was used in its Arabic form for all groups except the Pakistan group, for which the English version of KUAS was used. There are significant gender differences in 11 Islamic countries out of 16 in which females tended to be higher on the anxiety scale: Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Lebanon, Pakistan, Algiers, Yemen and Syria, while there was no significant difference in anxiety between the genders in the following five countries: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan, Emirates and Palestine. The salient gender differences were interpreted in the light of a socialization process; especially sex-typing and gender roles.