1. Reem A. Shawkat and Julie C. Dunsmore
The Effect of Religiosity and Culture on Muslim Female College Students’ Decision to Wear the Hijab
Reem A. Shawkat and Julie C. Dunsmore
INTRODUCTION
DEMOGRAPHICS
Between 2000 and 2001 there was a “1,600 percent increase in hate-based incidents against persons perceived to be Arab, Muslim, or South Asian in the United States” (Naber, 2008)
Signifiers including names, dark skin, forms of dress, and nations of origin were used by the public to distinguish “Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim” individuals (Naber, 2008)
A major identifier for Muslim women is wearing the hijab or any other variation on a traditional veil (Read, 2008)
Ultimately self-identification means nothing if that identification is not acknowledged or accepted by the public (Jamal, 2008). Because of the othering of the Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim identity, individuals are faced with the decision to either attempt to merge cultures or choose between two.
Acculturation: process of change on a cultural level as an individual moves from one distinct cultural location to another
Intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity relate to the amount of internal motivation and external influence (such as from family members), respectively, on religious experience
The purpose of this study is to reveal the complexity behind coming to the decision to wear a hijab
Figure 1. Number of participants that currently wear the hijab categorized by self identification to a generational group
Figure 2. Frequency of self-reported ethnicities
CONCLUSIONS
ANALYSES & RESULTS
METHOD
First-generation American Muslim women were more likely to wear a hijab than second- or later generation American Muslim women
Religion is influential in the decision about wearing the hijab, but is not the sole reason
Participants’ acculturation was most likely to combine American culture with their family’s culture of origin
Participants’ religiosity was more intrinsically than extrinsically motivated
Neither acculturation, Muslim identity, nor religiosity predicted the decision to wear or not wear the hijab
Logistic regressions predicting whether participants currently wear the hijab from acculturation, Muslim identity, and religiosity were not significant (all ps > .10)
All of the participants who currently wear the hijab reported religion as the primary reason behind their decision.
For the 12 participants who do not currently wear the hijab, there were a greater variety of primary reasons:
50% reported Personal reasons
17% reported Religious reasons
17% reported Other (Cultural & Personal; only wear when pray)
17% chose not to answer
25 women (ages years old; M = 21.55, SD = 4.81) were recruited by to the Muslim Student Association (MSA) listserv and Facebook post. A pizza party was provided for the MSA. They completed an online survey including:
Questions about the decision to wear the hijab
The following scales:
The Acculturation, Habits, and Interests Multicultural Scale for Adolescents Acculturation Scale (Unger, 2002)
“United States” responses = assimilation score
“Other country” responses = separation score
“Both” responses = integration score
“Neither” response = marginalization score
The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992);
Ethnic identity search
Ex: I think a lot about how my life will be affected by my religious group membership
Affirmation, belonging, and commitment
Ex: I understand what my religious group membership means to me.
Age Universal Intrinsic-Extrinsic Scale (Gorsuch, 1989)
Intrinsic: I enjoy reading about my religion
Extrinsic: I pray mainly to gain relief and protection
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Larger sample size
Complete qualitative interviews in order to attain a deeper understanding of decision making process
Explore whether there is a relation between mothers wearing the hijab and daughters’ decision to wear a hijab
Determine differences between environment in permanent residence and campus residence
Explore impact of others’ perception on self-perception
Conduct a longitudinal study that follows a cohort of specific students to observe stability and change over time in decision to wear/not wear the hijab
t (14) = 5.68, p = .000
F (3, 22) = 18.59, Wilks’ lambda = .28, p = .000
Social Development Lab
Presented at the L. Starling Reid Undergraduate Psychology Conference, Charlottesville, VA, April 2017