Young Bedouin-Arab Men’s Ego and Pride: Do Traditional Masculinity and Positive Attitudes Toward Polygyny Shape Responses to a Wife’s Refusal?
Cultural traditions in Israel’s Bedouin-Arab community encourage and permit men to take up to four wives, a practice supported by Islamic teachings. Despite legal prohibitions against polygyny in Israel, such marriages remain common and have profound effects on women, children, and broader society....
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2024-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/11/1081 |
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| author | Avi Besser Virgil Zeigler-Hill Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail |
| author_facet | Avi Besser Virgil Zeigler-Hill Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail |
| author_sort | Avi Besser |
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| description | Cultural traditions in Israel’s Bedouin-Arab community encourage and permit men to take up to four wives, a practice supported by Islamic teachings. Despite legal prohibitions against polygyny in Israel, such marriages remain common and have profound effects on women, children, and broader society. This study explores how traditional notions of masculinity and positive attitudes toward polygyny influence young Bedouin men’s reactions to a hypothetical scenario in which their wife refuses to accept a polygynous marriage as a threat to men’s ego and pride. The sample consisted of 459 young, unmarried Israeli Bedouin-Arab men, aged 16 to 25, a demographic frequently under family pressure to marry, making the issue of marriage highly relevant. We hypothesized that traditional masculinity and favorable attitudes toward polygyny would be positively associated with heightened perceptions of ego and pride threats in response to a wife’s refusal. Participants were randomly assigned to imagine either their wife refusing a polygynous arrangement (<i>n</i> = 228) or accepting a polygynous arrangement (<i>n</i> = 231) and then reporting their anticipated emotional responses. The results showed that traditional masculinity was linked to positive attitudes toward polygyny, and both were significantly associated with increased perceptions of ego and pride threats in the refusal scenario but not in the acceptance scenario. The findings suggest that men with strong masculine identities and favorable views of polygyny are especially vulnerable to feeling threatened by a wife’s refusal. This supports social construction theory and underscores the role of cultural norms in shaping emotional responses. The discussion highlights the psychological impacts of polygyny in patriarchal societies and calls for culturally sensitive interventions that challenge traditional norms while fostering psychological resilience and gender equality. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c7d2c1a5ea704b59bb85ec92587af437 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-c7d2c1a5ea704b59bb85ec92587af4372025-08-20T01:53:49ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2024-11-011411108110.3390/bs14111081Young Bedouin-Arab Men’s Ego and Pride: Do Traditional Masculinity and Positive Attitudes Toward Polygyny Shape Responses to a Wife’s Refusal?Avi Besser0Virgil Zeigler-Hill1Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail2Department of Communication Disorders, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem 9101001, IsraelDepartment of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USASchool of Social Work, Sapir Academic College, “Shaar HaNegev” Educational Campus, Ashkelon Beach 7915600, IsraelCultural traditions in Israel’s Bedouin-Arab community encourage and permit men to take up to four wives, a practice supported by Islamic teachings. Despite legal prohibitions against polygyny in Israel, such marriages remain common and have profound effects on women, children, and broader society. This study explores how traditional notions of masculinity and positive attitudes toward polygyny influence young Bedouin men’s reactions to a hypothetical scenario in which their wife refuses to accept a polygynous marriage as a threat to men’s ego and pride. The sample consisted of 459 young, unmarried Israeli Bedouin-Arab men, aged 16 to 25, a demographic frequently under family pressure to marry, making the issue of marriage highly relevant. We hypothesized that traditional masculinity and favorable attitudes toward polygyny would be positively associated with heightened perceptions of ego and pride threats in response to a wife’s refusal. Participants were randomly assigned to imagine either their wife refusing a polygynous arrangement (<i>n</i> = 228) or accepting a polygynous arrangement (<i>n</i> = 231) and then reporting their anticipated emotional responses. The results showed that traditional masculinity was linked to positive attitudes toward polygyny, and both were significantly associated with increased perceptions of ego and pride threats in the refusal scenario but not in the acceptance scenario. The findings suggest that men with strong masculine identities and favorable views of polygyny are especially vulnerable to feeling threatened by a wife’s refusal. This supports social construction theory and underscores the role of cultural norms in shaping emotional responses. The discussion highlights the psychological impacts of polygyny in patriarchal societies and calls for culturally sensitive interventions that challenge traditional norms while fostering psychological resilience and gender equality.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/11/1081traditional masculinityBedouin-Arabyoung menpolygynous marriage |
| spellingShingle | Avi Besser Virgil Zeigler-Hill Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail Young Bedouin-Arab Men’s Ego and Pride: Do Traditional Masculinity and Positive Attitudes Toward Polygyny Shape Responses to a Wife’s Refusal? Behavioral Sciences traditional masculinity Bedouin-Arab young men polygynous marriage |
| title | Young Bedouin-Arab Men’s Ego and Pride: Do Traditional Masculinity and Positive Attitudes Toward Polygyny Shape Responses to a Wife’s Refusal? |
| title_full | Young Bedouin-Arab Men’s Ego and Pride: Do Traditional Masculinity and Positive Attitudes Toward Polygyny Shape Responses to a Wife’s Refusal? |
| title_fullStr | Young Bedouin-Arab Men’s Ego and Pride: Do Traditional Masculinity and Positive Attitudes Toward Polygyny Shape Responses to a Wife’s Refusal? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Young Bedouin-Arab Men’s Ego and Pride: Do Traditional Masculinity and Positive Attitudes Toward Polygyny Shape Responses to a Wife’s Refusal? |
| title_short | Young Bedouin-Arab Men’s Ego and Pride: Do Traditional Masculinity and Positive Attitudes Toward Polygyny Shape Responses to a Wife’s Refusal? |
| title_sort | young bedouin arab men s ego and pride do traditional masculinity and positive attitudes toward polygyny shape responses to a wife s refusal |
| topic | traditional masculinity Bedouin-Arab young men polygynous marriage |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/11/1081 |
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