The cultural life script of Qatar and across cultures: Effects of gender and religion

Abstract

Cultural life scripts (CLS) are culturally shared cognitive representations of the expected order and timing of important life events in a prototypical life. Through three studies data from Qatar were analysed and compared to previously collected data from Denmark, Turkey, and the US. In Study 1 we examined the CLS of Qatar in order to determine whether the clear segregation of men and women as well as the centrality of religion in this society would influence the CLS. A total of 55 Qatari undergraduates completed the standard CLS task, imaging a Qatari infant of their own as well as the opposite gender. In Study 2 important personal life story events were collected from 83 Qatari undergraduates in order to explore the overlap between remembered life events and CLS events. Study 3 was a reanalysis of CLS data from Denmark, Turkey, and the US. There was a considerable overlap of events across cultures, but we also found that the Qatari CLS showed more gender differences and contained more religious and positive events compared to the other three countries.

Keywords:

• Autobiographical memory
• Cultural life script
• Gender
• Religion
• Reminiscence bump
• Childhood amnesia

In addition we would like to thank Ali I. Tekcan and David C. Rubin for granting access to data from the original studies of the CLS from Turkey and the US. We would also like to thank Fadwa El Guindi, Ali Al Shawi, Paul Sillitoe, Salah Al Mannai, and Azza Elnayal for help with recruiting participants. Najla Majid, Sine Scanlon, and Thea Ejby Salmonsen are thanked for helping with the scoring of the data. Finally our thanks go to Jonathan Koppel, Annette Bohn, Kim Berg Johannessen, and David Pillemer for their helpful suggestions and comments in the process.

In addition we would like to thank Ali I. Tekcan and David C. Rubin for granting access to data from the original studies of the CLS from Turkey and the US. We would also like to thank Fadwa El Guindi, Ali Al Shawi, Paul Sillitoe, Salah Al Mannai, and Azza Elnayal for help with recruiting participants. Najla Majid, Sine Scanlon, and Thea Ejby Salmonsen are thanked for helping with the scoring of the data. Finally our thanks go to Jonathan Koppel, Annette Bohn, Kim Berg Johannessen, and David Pillemer for their helpful suggestions and comments in the process.

Notes

¹ In Qatar menarche is not just a biological manifestation of a girl becoming a woman. From this day on veiling is proscribed by the prophet Muhammad. During a woman's period, she is excused from religious duties such as praying and visiting religious grounds. Likewise, during Ramadan she is excused from fasting, but it is expected that she will catch up by fasting at a more convenient time (Blackwood, 2006).

² “Gender divided social skills” regard gender differences in dress code, public appearance, and domestic responsibilities.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This work was supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF93) and by the MindLab UNIK initiative at Aarhus University, which is funded by the Danish Ministry of Science and Technology and Innovation.