Role of Social Status Factors & Religion/Secularization Factors in Views of Homosexuality in Five Nations of the Middle East

Examining how social status factors, religion factors, and secularization factors affected these attitudes among residents of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, the present study also asked whether national origin moderated how the three kinds of factors were or were not associated with these attitudes. The study employed data drawn from Wave 6 of the World Value Survey. A multiple regression model was developed to evaluate attitudes on homosexuality separately for each country involved. Overall results of the analysis showed social status factors, religion factors, and secularization factors to demonstrate association with attitudes about homosexuality. Some associations took directions that differed from expected ones for some nations but not necessarily all 5; additionally, a moderating role for national origin was confirmed. This suggests that the countries of the Middle East do not represent a monolith. Each features cultural, political, and/or social differences that make it unique.