Body elimination attitude family resemblance in Kuwait

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine the family resemblance of attitude toward body elimination in Kuwaiti participants. This study was conceptualized in the context of the theories of moral development, importance of cleanliness in the Muslim religion, cross-cultural differences in personal hygiene practices, previous research reporting an association between family attitudes and body elimination attitude, and health implications. The 24-item Likert-type format Body Elimination Attitude Scale-Revised was administered to 277 Kuwaiti high school students and 437 of their parents. Females scored higher, indicating greater disgust, than the males. Moreover, sons' body elimination attitude correlated more strongly with fathers' attitude (r = .85) than with that of the mothers (r = .64). Daughters' attitude was similarly associated with the fathers' (r = .89) and the mothers' attitude (r = .86). The high correlations were discussed within the context of Kuwait having a collectivistic culture with authoritarian parenting style. The higher adolescent correlations, and in particular the boys' correlation with fathers than with mothers, was explained in terms of the more dominant role of the Muslim father in the family. Public health and future research implications were suggested. A theoretical formulation was advanced in which "ideal" body elimination attitude is relative rather than absolute, and is a function of one's life circumstances, one's occupation, one's culture and subculture, and the society that one lives in.

Disgust and Contamination: A Cross-National Comparison of Ghana and the United States

“…Thus, if collectivism plays a role in shaping the extent of sensitivity to disgust and contamination, the disease prevalence hypothesis would suggest that the history of disease threats might also be shaping the nature of the collectivist trends in a society. Disgust sensitivity has been addressed in two other collectivist countries, but neither country is rated high on disease prevalence (Kuwait: −0.34; South Korea: −0.11; Murray and Schaller, 2010) and neither study made direct comparisons to other Western countries (Al-Fayez et al, 2009; Kang et al, 2012). Disgust needs to be assessed in more countries that vary in historical disease threat and collectivism to clarify these relationships.…”

Consumer behaviour and the toilet: Research on expulsive and retentive personalities

“…It is important to consider, in particular, that, from a geographical point of view, the prevalence of bowel disorders varies from a minimum of 7% in South Asia (Canavan et al, ) to a maximum of 21% in South America. In terms of cultural factors, some authors (e.g., Al‐Fayez et al, ; Dwairy & Achoui, ) have observed that Western cultures are characterized by an excessive preoccupation with dirt and hygiene, possessions, and the regulation of defecation, perhaps especially in Germany (Dundes, ; Lewis, ; Rollfinke & Rollfinke, ). Norimatsu () ascertained that Japanese mothers tend to take a milder approach in toilet training than French mothers and—as we found in our study—early or harsh education may impact physiological disorders and personality in adulthood.…”

“…The child takes pleasure from retaining or releasing faeces by controlling his/her sphincter. Children who experience difficulties in this phase may develop an adult character that reflects such difficulties (Al‐Fayez, Awadalla, Arikawa, Templer, & Hutton, ). In particular, early or harsh discipline may lead the child to develop an anal‐retentive personality, characterized by an obsessive need to control the body, excessively retain bodily fluids, and form attachments to material possessions (Stone & Desmond, ).…”