The relationship between gender segregation in schools, self-esteem, spiritual values/religion, and peer relations in Kuwait

Abstract

Public schools at all levels in Kuwait are gender-segregated due to conservative traditional values, but such segregation is not practiced in private schools. In the past decade, a series of laws were passed to impose gender segregation in private universities as well. A concern about the psychological and social impact of gender segregation on students is a topic of ongoing debate in Kuwait. Research into the effects of gender segregation on social aspects such as peer relations remains an area to be explored. The purpose of this study is to assess whether there is a difference in peer relations with the opposite or same gender among individuals who have attended Kuwaiti schools across different school settings, and to explore which factors such as physical appearance, general esteem, parental relations, and spiritual values/religion might influence this difference. Seventy-six participants (57% female; 43% male) in Kuwait aged between 18 and 39 years filled out an online questionnaire incorporating scal...