Charles Harb This research was made possible by a joint Issam Fares Institute (IFI) and UNICEF grant. DESCRIBING THE LEBANESE YOUTH: A NATIONAL & PSYCHO-SOCIAL SURVEY.
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Charles Harb
This research was made possible by a joint Issam Fares Institute (IFI) and UNICEF grant.
DESCRIBING THE LEBANESE YOUTH: A NATIONAL & PSYCHO-SOCIAL SURVEY.
OutlineBackground
Socio-Demographic variablesSocio-Cultural preferencesSocial-Psychological profiles
Inter-sectarian relationsIdentities
Values
MethodologyInstrumentsSampling procedureSample descriptives
ResultsSocio-demographic analysesSocio-cultural analysesSocio-psychological analyses
Conclusion
Socio-demographic descriptives
Assessment of socio-demographic variations in the Lebanese youth population:
How educated are they? Are there differences between groups (gender, sect, region) in education levels?What is the average household income?What are the unemployment rates for this age group? Are they marrying early or is a substantial portion of youth still unwed?
Socio-cultural orientationInternet use:
How wide is the internet penetration in this age group?Language use:
How proficient are the youth in the use of Arabic, French and English?
Media preferences:Do Lebanese youth prefer Western or Arabic TV programs?Do Lebanese youth prefer Western or Arabic Music?
Emigration:How many are contemplating emigrating from Lebanon? How many are actually planning to do so?
Are there gender, regional or sectarian differences across all the above?
Inter-sectarian relationsSectarian Ingroup Bias (sectarianism):
What is the overall level of sectarianism among the youth?Warmth towards and acceptance of others (Prejudice):
Similarly, how warm and accepting are the youth of other sects?
Attitudes towards inter-sectarian marriageWhat are the youth’ atittudes towards inter-sectarian marriage? Do they support it in general, and would they engage in it personally?
ReligiosityAre Lebanese youth religious? Are there differences between the communities, gender or region in levels of religiosity?
Identities
What levels of inclusiveness do the Lebanese youth endorse the most?
Are the identities relationally defined (family, region) or are they more collectively ascribed (national, pan regional, pan religious etc.)?
How strong are national identities compared to sectarian identities? Do these identity preferences differ per youth subgroup?
ValuesWhat value hierarchies do the youth endorse?Which values are most important to the youth in Lebanese? Which are the least important?
Method
Instruments and survey
Background variablesGenderAgeSocio-Economic Status:
income education
Geographical location - governorateSectarian affiliation
MeasuresInternet Use:
a single item measure the quantitative use of the internet was proposed, with scores ranging from 1) several hours per day to 5) no use at all.
Media Preferences: two bipolar items measuring participants’ preferences for Western versus Arabic TV programs and music
Language use: 6 items measuring participants’ declared levels of proficiency in written and spoken Arabic, English and French were developed using 5 point Likert type scales
Attitudes towards emigration: 2 items, ever thought seriously about emigrating, and are you actively seeking/working to emigrate
Scales Intrinsic religiosity scale: 5 items - short version of religiosity scale (Rebeiz & Harb, 2008)
E.g. “I consider myself a religious person”, “Religious considerations influence my every day affairs” – applicable to Christians and Muslims Alike
Sectarian Ingroup Bias Scale: 5 items measuring ingroup bias towards’ one’s sect (Harb, Schmidt & Hewstone, in preparation).
E.g. “I am strongly connected to my sect”, “I am proud to belong to my sect”, “my sect can serve Lebanon better than any other sects”
Sectarian Prejudice: Haddock et al.’s (1993) thermometer Inter-Sectarian Marriage:
two items - The first item asked participants for their degree of support for inter-faith marriage on a 5 point Likert type scale. The second item asked participants for their personal willingness tomarry someone from a different sect, using a four point scale
Identities...
1. I’m concerned with the welfare of2. My foremost allegiance is to3. My identity is defined by my belonging to
Adapted from Harb (2002), Harb Fischer, Al-Hafedh (2007), Harb, Schmidt & Hewstone (preparation)validated in student samples in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and the UK (Harb, 2002) as well as Iraq (Fisher et al., 2008).
Values
The Basic Human Values Scale21+2 item measureEuropean Values SurveyValidated in Arabic
Schwartz 2002
sampling
samplingInformation InternationalN = 1200 18-25 year old Lebanese citizensPeriod: December 8 – 22nd, 2009multi-stage probability sampling:
1. stage 1: selecting neighborhoods inside each city in a way to represent the confessional diversity and make-up of the areas.
2. Stage 2: selecting households based on a systematic random sample in each neighborhood according to the estimated number of buildings in the neighborhood
3. Stage 3: sampling a primary respondent within each household based on the most recent birthday.
Sample Descriptives (N= 1200)
Marital status
Income and employment
Analyses and descriptives
Education
EducationNs MohafazaNs confessionNs gender
24% of the US population has a Bachelor’s degree vs 32.7% Lebanese population
Emigration
NS SectNS Mohafaza Males > Females
Internet use
49.7% Daily use18.5% no use
Gender: M > FMohafaza: ML > Nabatieh, Bekaa
the Caza of Dinnieh, Baalbeck, Nabatieh, Aakar, Saida and Zahlehhave the least internet penetrationMaronite Christians > Muslim Sunni/Shia
Languages: Arabic, English, French
88.3% proficient in written Arabic
41.3% proficient in written English
28.9% proficient in written French
Media Preferences
Interfaith/sect marriage
• NS Sect• M>F• North < ML-Bekaa (attitude only)
Inter-sectarian relationsSectarianism (sectarian ingroup bias): 3.8 (.8)
NS gender
NS sect
NS Mohafaza
Warmth and acceptance: 67% (19.7)NS gender
NS sect
Regional differences (Bekaa & South + , Nabatieh -)
Religiosity: 3.4 (.84)Greater religiosity among Sunni and Shia Muslims than other sects
Values
Identities
Concluding Comments
A summary of findingsHighly educated (41.4%)
Equalised across gender, sect and region
EmigrationHalf the youth contemplating emigrationover a quarter actively seeking to emigrateAffects all, regardless of sect or region (M>F)
Multi-culturalAlmost 90% proficient in Arabic, 41% English, 29% FrenchAlmost Half preferred Arabic media (TV and Music), a quarter preferred Western Media, and a quarter a mix of the two.
Problematic or wealth?
Inter-sectarian relations1 in every 3 expressed negative emotions towards, and low acceptance of other sects (hostile prejudice). 2 out of 3 would not consider marrying someone from a difference sect80% of participants scored higher than the midpoint on sectarian ingroup bias
No sectarian or gender differences in prejudice
IdentitiesHigh identification with Family, and Nation, closely followed by SectLow identification with peers, political groupsLow individuality scoresIslamic Identity stronger than Arab Identity among Muslim participants
No sectarian differences on sectarian identificationGreater sectarian identity in the North, greater individuality in Mount Lebanon
ValuesStrong endorsement of Honour and HospitalityStrong endorsement of Security
High achievement and self-directionLow stimulation, hedonism
Surprising ranking for Benevolence and Universalism (important values for community and idealism)
No sectarian differences, but regional differences:North < ML on universalism
ML < South on Benevolence
Limitations and Future Recommendations
Limitations
Some difficulties in surveying this age group (mobile, difficult to reach)
Self-presentation biases (surveys)
No valid comparison group (e.g. national or cross-national)
No valid comparison time (e.g. development over time)
Basic descriptives and simple factorial analyses of variance.Next steps in analyses:1. Interrelationship analyses
(predictors of sectarian prejudice, correlations between variables)2. Geographic mapping of variables
(lower level of analysis and descriptive)3. Model testing
(Hierarchical modelling and moderated analyses – for academic print)
Next steps in Research:Repeated measures over time?Comparisons across Arab samples?
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