This study had four objectives: (a) examining the sex-related differences in the level of personality functioning (LOPF), (b) exploring the association between personality traits (PT) and LOPF, (c) ...exploring the association between identity statuses (IS) and LOPF, (d) exploring whether PT and IS can predict LOPF. A sample of 1450 students aged 15–21 years from high schools and universities from all the governorates of Lebanon participated in this online study. The Arabic version of three measures were used: (a) Revised Personality Inventory: Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, EXtraversion, Agreeableness (versus Anger), Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience (HEXACO) – PI – R, (b) Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS), (c) Level of Personality Functioning Screener- Brief Form 2.0 (LOPF-BF-2.0) were rated for the sample. Results showed no statistical differences in LOPF between males and females; IS and LOPF were correlated similarly in both males and females except for Achievement (Ach), which did not correlate significantly with LOPF in males, but correlated negatively and significantly among females. Conversely, Moratorium (M), Foreclosure (F) and Diffusion (D) correlated positively with LOPF in both males and females. All Identity statuses could predict LOPF, except for F; likewise, all personality dimensions Humility (H), Extraversion (X), Agreeableness (A), and Conscientiousness (C) could predict LOPF except for Openness to experience (O). Implications of the results are discussed.
The present investigation sought to explore the difference in death anxiety between two different samples of students who studied at the same university in Lebanon in 1998 and 2015. Based on the ...changes in the social, economic, and political conditions that took place over these 17 years, it is possible to predict the change in death anxiety during this period. The participants in the 1998 study included 228 undergraduates, whereas the 2015 sample consisted of 292 students. All participants responded to Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (DAS). Sex-related differences on the DAS were statistically significant in the 1998 group where women obtained a higher mean than the men. The t-test was significant at 0.001. Among women, the 2015 group obtained a significantly lower mean score than did their female counterparts in the 1998 group, whereas the difference between the two years in men was not significant. In sum, the hypothesis of the study was partially verified, i.e., a change in death anxiety level in some groups has happened as a result of the passage of time and other factors. In this case, death anxiety may be considered a fluid entity influenced by different environmental conditions.
This study sought to explore the sex and cultural differences in satisfaction with life between undergraduate men and women recruited from four Arab countries, i.e., Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Qatar ...(N = 1,322); ages ranged from 18 to 27 years. The participants responded to the Arabic version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Egyptian and Lebanese women obtained significantly higher mean scores on satisfaction with life than did their male counterparts, whereas there were no significant sex differences in the Kuwaiti and Qatari samples. For men, the Qatari and Kuwaiti samples obtained the high mean scores on satisfaction with life, whereas the Egyptian and Lebanese samples obtained the low mean scores. For women, the Qatari sample had the higher mean score, whereas the Egyptian sample obtained the lowest mean score. The results were explained in light of the positive association between gross domestic product and satisfaction with life.
The present research studied 2570 college students from seven countries: Egypt, Algeria, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran, India and Turkey. The aims were: (a) to compare love of life mean scores between the ...seven samples, (b) to examine sex-related differences in love of life, and (c) to explore the principal components of the Love of Life Scale (LLS). The highest mean total LLS scores were for Kuwait, India, and Iran students, respectively. All countries differed significantly from one another, except Algeria versus Lebanon and India versus Iran. Higher mean LLS scores for women were found for each country. Cronbach alpha for the LLS was .93. A principal component analysis extracted from one to four components for individual countries, but one component was extracted for the total sample and labelled: Positive attitude towards life and Meaningfulness of life. The love of Life concept may be considered to be an important concept in positive psychology.
This study aims to test the applicability of the functional theory of life values and score differences among a group of students from Lebanon and Portugal. Participants include 565 college ...students--278 Lebanese and 287 Portuguese. A demographic questionnaire and an adapted version of the Basic Values Survey were completed. Confirmatory/multigroup factor analysis, a generalized Procrustes analysis, and a t test were used. Results indicate that content and structure hypotheses were equivalent among the two groups. There were significant differences between the Lebanese and Portuguese students in normative and promotion values in favor of the first group, and in interactive, suprapersonal, and excitement values in favor of the second. This study has implications for institutional academic and social practices with international college students.
This study had three objectives: (a) to compare undergraduates from four Arab countries on self-esteem, (b) to explore the sex-related differences in self-esteem in these four Arab countries, and (c) ...to examine the association of self-esteem with both per-capita income and unemployment rate. Four samples of 2,643 students were recruited from Egypt (n = 576), Kuwait (n = 674), Lebanon (n = 826), and Oman (n = 567). They responded to the Arabic version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Kuwaiti and Omani men had a significantly higher mean score on self-esteem than did Egyptian and Lebanese men. Egyptian women scored significantly lower than the Omani women, but the effect size was small. Regarding the sex-related differences in self-esteem, Kuwaiti men had a significantly higher mean score than did their female peers, but the effect size was small, whereas there were no significant sex differences in the other samples. The sex-related difference in self-esteem is a controversial result and it may not be replicable in different countries. It was suggested that self-esteem is associated with high per-capita income and low unemployment rate.
Background
The Eight‐item Fear Scale is a unidimensional scale evaluating the perceived feelings of fear associated with the thought of the coronavirus.
Aim
The Arabic version of this scale did not ...exist; hence, this study aimed to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Fear Scale in participants aged 18 years and above in five Arabic countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan by using a cross‐sectional survey design.
Method
The English version of the COVID‐19 Fear Scale was translated into Arabic following the guidelines and disseminated through social media. Factorial and convergent validity and internal reliability were evaluated. Results: The total number of participants was 2783; the majority was young (41.9%) and female (60.5%). Fear scores were moderate in four countries and severe in Egypt. The scale showed good structural validity, with the items explaining up to 70% of the variance. The scale items correlated significantly with the total scores, and the Cronbach alpha was above 0.9.
Conclusion
The study concluded that the Arabic Fear Scale is a psychometrically robust scale that can be used to evaluate the perceived feelings of fear with the thought of the coronavirus or pandemic in general.
(1) This study aimed to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Fear Scale in above 18 years Arabic speakers’ residents in five Arabic countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. (2) It used a cross‐sectional survey design, the English version of COVID‐19 Fear Scale was translated in Arabic following the guidelines and disseminated through social media. Structural and Criterion validity, internal consistency, and reliability were evaluated. (3) The study concluded that evaluating fear in the Arabic countries was found to be essential considering the high scores.
The study investigated the associations of religiosity, religious coping and suicide acceptance to suicide ideation and attempts in 7427 young adults affiliating with Islam from 11 Muslim countries.
...A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. We used F and χ2 tests and correlation analyses to report descriptive statistics. Multi-group path models with (i) a zero-inflated Poisson distribution and, (ii) a Binomial distribution were used to model the number of occurrences of suicidal ideation, and occurrence of a suicide attempt, respectively.
Religiosity was negatively associated with acceptability of suicide, but it was positively related to punishment after death across the 11 countries. Religiosity was negatively associated with ever experiencing suicidal ideation, both directly and indirectly through its association with attitudes towards suicide, especially the belief in acceptability of suicide. Neither positive nor negative religious coping were related to suicidal ideation. However, religiosity was negatively related to suicide attempts among those who experienced suicidal ideation at least once. This association was mediated through the belief in acceptability of suicide and religious coping. Negative religious coping was positively associated with suicide attempts probably because it weakened the protective effects of religiosity.
Findings from this study suggest that the effects of religiosity in the suicidal process operate through attitudes towards suicide. We therefore conclude that clinical assessment as well as research in suicidology may benefit from paying due attention to attitudes towards suicide.
•Religiosity deters suicide through its effects on attitudes towards suicide.•Acceptability of suicide has the strongest links to suicidal thoughts and attempts.•Neither positive nor negative religious coping are related to suicidal ideation.•Negative religious coping is positively associated with suicide attempts.•Positive religious coping does not deter suicide attempts.
•Suicide acceptance and negative life-events were associated with suicidal ideation.•Perceived social support was negatively related to suicidal ideation.•Those who had interdependent self-construal ...were less accepting of suicide.•Number of life-events was the strongest predictor of ever attempting suicide.•Interdependence attenuated the association of negative life-events with suicide attempts.
Research on suicidality in low to middle-income countries is scarce. We addressed this issue by investigating suicidality in a cross-national college student samples from 11 predominantly low to middle-income majority Muslim countries.
The sample consisted of 7427 college students (56% female) who reported to be affiliated with Islam. Data on self-construal, social support, negative life-events, acceptability of suicide, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts were collected with self-administered questionnaires.
Acceptability of suicide and the experience of negative life-events were positively, and perceived social support was negatively associated with suicidal ideation. Interdependent self-construal was negatively related to the acceptability of suicide and positively associated with perceived social support, implying a negative indirect effect on suicidal ideation although its direct effect was positive. The number of negative life-events was the strongest positive predictor of ever attempting suicide. The interdependent self-construal moderated the association of negative life-events with suicide attempts.
Cross-sectional and self-report nature of the study were its major limitations. Participants may have suppressed their responses about suicide because of religious and legal reasons.
Remarkable similarities across 11 country samples emerged in the linkages between cultural and interpersonal factors with suicidality. Our findings highlight the value of a nuanced approach to suicidality, that can recognize the differences in the processes associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, as well as the need to consider the interplay of a broad range of personal, interpersonal, and cultural influences.
There is a scarcity of research on suicidal phenomena in the Muslim world. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the self-reported prevalence of suicidal thoughts, attempts and motives in 12 ...Muslim countries. A total of 8417 (54.4% women) university students were surveyed by means of a self-report questionnaire. Overall, 22% of the participants reported suicidal ideation and 8.6% reported attempting suicide. The odds of suicidal thoughts were elevated in Azerbaijan, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, while reduced ORs were recorded in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Malaysia. While odds of suicide attempts were high in Azerbaijan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia reduced odds ratios (OR) were detected in Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia and Tunisia. Taking drugs and using a sharp instrument were the two most frequently used methods to attempt suicide. Only 32.7% of attempts required medical attention. Escape motives were endorsed more than social motives by participants who attempted suicide. Suicidal behaviors were more frequent in women than in men. Compered to men, fewer attempts by women required medical attention. Moreover, our results show that making suicide illegal does not reduce the frequency of suicidal behavior. Results from this comparative study show that suicidal thoughts and attempts are frequent events in young adults in countries where religious scripture explicitly prohibit suicide and the frequencies of nonfatal suicidal behavior show large variation in nations adhering to the same religion.
PDF
