School Atmosphere and its Relationship to National Loyalty and Extremism among Male and Female University Students

(Fatimah K. Al-Howaish)

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Abstract

National loyalty is a major behavioral controller. It defines individual attitude towards his society and its running activities. It also controls individual conductance of his expected role towards his country. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between school atmosphere with national loyalty and extremism of male and female university students, to detect the differences in responses between male and female students and between first and fourth grade students. The study was conducted on a sample of (240) subjects including 120 male and 120 female students from the faculty of education at King Faisal University. The Study used a measure of school atmosphere prepared by Mansour AL-Qarni on 1995, and the national loyalty and extremism measure prepared by Isam Zidan on 2001. Both measures were adapted to fit the Saudi environment. The study found a significant positive correlation between school atmosphere and national loyalty, and a significant inverse correlation with extremism. Female Students have better school atmosphere and high national allegiance. No differences were detected regarding extremism between male and female students. There were no differences in school atmosphere and national loyalty between first and fourth grade students. However, the first year students have higher extremism level. The work recommends that student must be trained on handling conflicted issues and opinions in addition to using constructive dialogue with opposing individuals. KEY Words: Extreme ideology, Saudi society.
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