Youth Attitudinal Trends Bearing on National Belonging A Study on Samples of Umm Al-Qura University Students

Abstract

Having utilized a social survey technique on a study sample of (1024) students, and aggregating data via a questionnaire mechanism, the subject study objective is to explore the bearing of young people's attitudes on their national belonging through stressing the role of social media tools, social groups, and institutions of social upbringing. It also targets revealing the ambit of the different attitudes of young people with regard to the national belonging factors as per their diverse social characteristics. The study data arrived at a number of conclusions in the subject regard, most noteworthy among which is the social media having a favorable impact on the national belonging of youth, with Twitter being uppermost in influence and Instagram of the least influence. It was also concluded that the family is of a stronger influence than the tribe, and that the school has more influence than the university and the mosque in nurturing and fostering the national belonging of the youth. Moreover, statistically indicative substantial differences were discovered pertinent to the influence of different social groups on national belonging and affiliation, which can be attributed to some variables, such as gender, being in favor of males, point of origin and birth place favoring and fostering affiliation to villages and countryside, and the level of education of the mother and father tilting the balance in favor of intermediate school or even below as a terminal educational goal. Besides, also found of considerable effect on the youth trends were statistically indicative differences with regards to the extent of the impact of the social upbringing institutions on the national be longing, attributable to some variables relevant to school level, closely akin to and in favor of the socially lower and higher levels, place of birth and upbringing with relevance to villages and countryside, and parents’ education regarding its being average or below average.