Conceptualization and Correlates of Religious Conservatism in Egypt
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
First Statement of Responsibility
Dar, Verda
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Goeke-Morey, Marcie C.
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
The Catholic University of America
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2019
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
136
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Ph.D.
Body granting the degree
The Catholic University of America
Text preceding or following the note
2019
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
Given the evidence that religion can potentially shape one's beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and decision making, it is important to understand the prevalence and nature of religious conservatism and how it impacts one's stance on social and personal issues. Religious conservatism (RC), particularly among Muslims, is conceptualized narrowly and measured inconsistently and incompletely in most previous studies. In addition, there is somewhat consistent but limited evidence regarding relations between RC and outcome variables related to women's health and well-being such as wife-battery, female circumcision/female genital mutilation practices (FC/FGM), and contraceptives use. Expanding on previous definitions, the current studies conceptualize RC as a stance on a series of beliefs including religiosity (religious activities and self-reported religiosity), attitudes towards women (favoring men over women in education, jobs, within family dynamic, and financial decisions making), and attitudes towards religion's role in politics (how much religion should influence politics). Study One investigated the prevalence and correlates of RC in Egyptian adults age 18-35 years, and identified latent profiles based on religiosity, attitudes towards women, and attitudes towards religion's role in politics. Study Two assessed the extent to which RC predicted attitudes towards wife-battery, FC/FGM, and contraceptives use, as well as the differentiation of these associations within latent profiles. The current analysis used a sub-sample of one person per household (N = 5,883) from the 2014 Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) dataset. Chi-Square, T-test, ANOVA, Multiple Regression, and Latent Profile Analysis were used to analyze the study aims. To ensure data was representative of the population, weights were used in all analysis models. Latent profile analysis identified four groups based on RC indicators: Religious conservatives (9%), low-religious gender-biased (5%), high-religious moderates (62%), and moderates (24%). While some indicators of RC were related directly to the support for wife-battery, attitudes towards FC/FGM and contraceptives use, religious conservatives reported significantly more support for wife-battery as compared to high-religious moderates and moderates. Moderation effects of gender and marital status are also discussed. The results highlight that religious conservatism is only prevalent for a small percentage of Egyptian young adults. In addition, religious conservatism might not be a very important factor in women's health outcomes, in particular FC/FGM and the use of contraceptives. Future research should continue to contextualize RC, analyze correlates, and test for mechanisms underlying relationships. Overall, the hope is that these studies will help inform the design of future studies and develop more comprehensive models to understand RC.