title: Self-esteem among college students from four Arab countries.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, College of Social Sciences, Kuwait University, P. O. Box 68168, Kaifan, Code No. 71962, Kuwait. aabdel-khalek@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ahmed M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Abdel-Khalek
authors.forename: Adel Shokry
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Korayem
authors.forename: Mayssah A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: El-Nayal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008877:Middle East; D010379:Peer Group; D012649:Self Concept; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014478:Unemployment / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult