Gender differences in offline and online expression of opinion about women serving in the Kuwaiti military

Abstract

This study adopted the Spiral of Silence theory to examine cross-sectional data on the impact of sources of fear on opinion expression in congruent and incongruent offline and online contexts. The study’s questionnaire asked respondents about their willingness to express opinions about the issue of Kuwaiti women serving in the military. The examined predictor variables were three different sources of fear: institutional, social, and personal. The study also explored the influence of three predictors: respondents’ perceptions of the dominant opinion climates in Kuwaiti society, in the media, and on Twitter. For criterion variables, respondents estimated their likelihood of expressing an opinion about the issue in congruent and incongruent offline and online situations. Multivariate analyses of 503 Kuwaiti University student respondents indicated that men more than women tended to be willing to express their opinions in all situations. Women indicated that they would be more likely to stifle their opinions due to sources of fear while men indicated they were less likely to stifle their opinions due to their perceptions about the issue. In online situations, fear of the law was the predominant factor causing opinion stifling for both genders. The results suggested that online technology could benefit women in opinion expression by overcoming restrictions found in offline situations.

Keywords:

• Arab and societies
• opinion stifling/expression
• spiral of silence
• sources of fear impacting opinion expression

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ali A. Al-Kandari

Ali A. Al-Kandari Ph.D., the University of Southern Mississippi: is a professor of mass communication at Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. His research interests include Uses and Gratifications, Arab media and effects.

Edward Frederick

Edward Frederick Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison is an associate professor of communication specializing in public relations at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, USA. His research focuses on mass media's effects on public opinion and public relations.

Albaraa F. Al-Tourah

Albaraa F. Al-Tourah is an assistant professor of mass communication at Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. His research interests include Media Agenda Setting, Spiral of Silence, human rights in Kuwait

KhinWee Chen

KhinWee Chin is an assistant professor of mass communication at Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. His research interests include Media, humor and politics.

Mohamed Mubarak Alfahad

Mohamed Mubarak Alfahad is a public relations professional at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense. His research interests include public relations and new media.