Sex and national differences in internet addiction in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Background: Understanding individual differences in psychology, and how they relate to specific addictions, may allow society to better identify those at most risk and even enact policies to ameliorate them. Internet addiction is a growing health concern, a research focus of which is to understand individual differences and the psychology of those most susceptible to developing it. Western countries are strongly overrepresented in this regard. Method: Here, sex and national differences in internet addiction are measured, using Young's ‘Internet Addiction Test,’ in two non-Western countries, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. >800 students aged 18 and 35 years (M = 20.65, SD = 1.48) completed a multidimensional internet addiction instrument. The instrument measures traits such as Withdrawal and Social Problems, Time Management and Performance and Reality Substitute. Results: Analyses revealed that males scored higher than females and Saudis higher than Egyptians on nearly all scales, including the total score. Factor analysis of the 20-item instrument revealed three factors, all exhibiting sex and culture differences. Conclusions: These findings add to the body of evidence that males are higher than females in problematic internet use, as they are in addictive behaviors in general. Our findings may also imply that restrictions on male-female interaction, which are more pronounced in Saudi Arabia, may elevate the prevalence of internet addiction. The internet is also easier and cheaper to access in Saudi Arabia than in Egypt

A Negative Relationship between IQ and Family Size in the Sultanate of Oman

Many studies have shown a small negative correlation between intelligence and fertility in developed countries. Several studies have provided evidence of a similar relationship in developing countries, notably in several Arab nations. The present study contributes to this body of research by testing whether this small negative relationship also exists in a poor region of the Sultanate of Oman, thus contributing to the important issue of understanding whether intelligence is in decline beyond the West even in poorer areas. The study used a sample of 1406 students aged 10 to 19 years from schools in the Dhofar Governorate in Oman. The correlations between children's IQ and family size and between parents' education and family size were computed, with parent education being a robust proxy for intelligence. This yielded a small negative relationship between children's IQ and their family size, and a moderate-sized negative relationship between parental education and family size. It is concluded that there is a negative relationship between education and fertility in Oman and that this suggests a small negative relationship between parents' intelligence and the number of their children. These data suggest that at the genetic level, intelligence is slowly declining in the Arab world although test scores are still rising due to educational and economic advances

Sex and Culture Differences in Cultural Intelligence: A Study Comparing Saudi Arabians and Egyptians

Cultural Intelligence (CI) refers to the motivation and ability to understand and deal with cultural differences. As such, it is assumed to play a role in the effectiveness of social contact and communication between people from different cultures. Given its relevance to international relations, it is imperative to test which individual and group factors are associated with CI. Therefore, in the present study we examine cross-cultural and gender differences in CI. In one of their classes at their university, students (N = 829) from Egypt and Saudi Arabia completed a multidimensional measure of CI. The results showed an interesting pattern of interactions between country and gender, which indicated that Egyptian men did not significantly differ from co-national women, but Saudi men scored significantly lower than women. We suggest that the different patterns of results in the two countries may partly arise from different levels of exposure to different cultures and partly from subtle differences in the constitution of the samples. Knowledge of individual and group differences in cultural intelligence may potentially contribute to explaining differential levels of success in individuals or countries in dealing with cultural differences

Sex and Culture Differences in Cultural Intelligence: A Study Comparing Saudi Arabians and Egyptians

Cultural Intelligence (CI) refers to the motivation and ability to understand and deal with cultural differences. As such, it is assumed to play a role in the effectiveness of social contact and communication between people from different cultures. Given its relevance to international relations, it is imperative to test which individual and group factors are associated with CI. Therefore, in the present study we examine cross-cultural and gender differences in CI. In one of their classes at their university, students ( N  = 829) from Egypt and Saudi Arabia completed a multidimensional measure of CI. The results showed an interesting pattern of interactions between country and gender, which indicated that Egyptian men did not significantly differ from co-national women, but Saudi men scored significantly lower than women. We suggest that the different patterns of results in the two countries may partly arise from different levels of exposure to different cultures and partly from subtle differences in the constitution of the samples. Knowledge of individual and group differences in cultural intelligence may potentially contribute to explaining differential levels of success in individuals or countries in dealing with cultural differences