Gender Differences in Fears for an Egyptian Sample

Abstract

Research on fears and phobias in the Arab countries is rare. The study aim was to estimate the gender differences in fears among a large sample of Egyptian school children and adolescents (N = 4,224) aged 11 to 18 years. The Fear Survey Schedule was used. Results indicated that females in all age groups obtained higher mean total scores than males on the FSS. Most of the d statistics for effect size were high. These rather large gender differences in fears among the present sample of children and adolescents in favor of females are congruent with many international findings. Biological and social-cultural factors, including sex role, may explain this difference.