ABSTRACT
Family, national (ethnic) origin, and citizenship have been found to form the hierarchy of group affiliations among undergraduate students attending the American University of Beirut (AUB). Interestingly no significant differences were found between the results of the studies conducted in 1957 and in 1971. A study conducted in October 1977 among a random sample consisting of 420 Arab undergraduate men and women at Kuwait University (KU) indicates that Arab undergraduates representing thirteen Arab states in addition to Palestinians ranked religion first in their hierarchy of group affiliations. They ranked family second, followed by citizenship, national origin, and political ideology (regardless of the respondent's sex).
A 36-item forced choice questionnaire was administered in September 1981 to a random sample of 100 Arab undergraduate men and women attending California State University, Fresno (CSUF), who had spent at least two years in the United States. Mean age of the respondents was 21.68. Ninety-seven percent were Moslems and 15 percent were women.
The results indicate that these Arab undergraduates representing six states in addition to Palestine ranked religion first in their hierarchy of group affiliations, fo llowed by political ideology, citizenship, national origin, and family.
It is, however, understood that our findings cannot be generalized to other populations.
