Open AccessFurther Tests of the Women and Peace Hypothesis: Evidence from Cross‐National Survey Research in the Middle East
Author(s) -
Tessler Mark,
Nachtwey Jodi,
Grant Audra
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
international studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.897
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1468-2478
pISSN - 0020-8833
DOI - 10.1111/0020-8833.00133
Subject(s) - middle east , salience (neuroscience) , palestine , public opinion , survey data collection , political science , international conflict , dimension (graph theory) , social psychology , psychology , politics , law , history , statistics , ancient history , mathematics , pure mathematics , cognitive psychology
This research report replicates, extends, and adds a longitudinal dimension to a recently published analysis focusing on the relationship between sex and attitudes toward international conflict, and specifically on the hypothesis that women are more peace‐oriented than men. The study being replicated utilized public opinion data from Israel, Egypt, Palestine, and Kuwait. The present report extends the analysis, employing one additional data set from Israel, two additional data sets from Palestine, and new data sets from Jordan and Lebanon. In contrast to findings from studies conducted in the United States and Europe, none of the nine Middle Eastern data sets yields a statistically significant relationship between sex and attitudes toward international conflict. The article considers possible reasons for the difference between findings from the Middle East and those based on research in the West. Emphasizing the notion of salience, it hypothesizes that characteristics of the conflict about which attitudes are held may be more important than country or regional attributes in determining the applicability of the women and peace hypothesis.