Religion and Sex as Factors of Individual Differences of Reification in an Intercultural-Community-Based Society

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze individual differences of reification in an intercultural-community-based society while considering the variables of religion and sex in a sample of 1120 Spanish individuals: 810 women (72.5%) and 310 men (27.5%). Of these, 66.10% were Christian and 25% were Muslim, with reported ages ranging between 17 and 26 years old (mean age 19.84 years old). Once the quality parameters of the instrument (reification in community-based intercultural questionnaire) were determined, we confirmed the reliability and through confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling methodology, data collection was initiated. The general results indicate that 87.50% of the respondents had been whistled at while walking along the street on at least one occasion. The ANOVA results indicate significant differences in sex and religion; women in the sample suffered greater feelings of reification in an intercultural-community-based society than men, with Muslim women specifically reporting the strongest results. The results demonstrate that women suffer more reification issues in their daily lives, with this sometimes due to their partners. Addressing this barrier to achieving equality between men and women is obligatory, so public and private institutions still have considerable work to do to achieve this goal.

1. Introduction

In this increasingly globalized world, with each generation, multicultural and traditional activities are increasingly intermingling on a daily basis. In today’s Western society, which has recently undergone significant changes, the widespread use of information and communication technology and its increase in use among adolescents have led to a considerable increase in bullying in the community-based information society. In previous decades, the concept of community as a means of development focused on the face-to face relational environment in which young people developed. With the emergence and proliferation of social networks, within the cyber intercultural and plural interreligious and international context, with a society defined with diverse terms such as “global village”, “cyberspace”, and “telematic society”, the extended use of information and communication technology and particularly amongst adolescents has led to a considerable increase in psychological harassment through technological means (Luengo 2012). This is largely due to the proliferation of influencers and YouTubers. These aspects are influential precursors to the social relationships formed between young people. They are exercised by born leaders, and those classified as millennials are by far the most influential trend setters for young people.

In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) published the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Within this edition, a new category called “disorders not related to substances” was included within the addictive disorders category, where “Gaming Disorders” also appears. Despite this, we cannot ignore that the use of technologies and social networks (whether correctly or incorrectly) is only a means through which these social relationships develop for intercultural participatory information. This is called a network society: a hyper-connected society with high physical, interactive, and instantaneous mobility. This had led to the democratization of ideas and possibilities while also stripping away social and technological barriers, including those associated with limited time and space, as was described in 1986.

The difficulty presented by the immense possibilities of the ways in which young people engage themselves during important periods of development is that much of the videogame, tutorial, and music content acts as symbolic elements that provide internal coherence to groups of young people. As such, music and tutorial content help these individuals to construct and consolidate a collective identity. Within these elements, a wide proliferation of aggressive sexist content exists in music lyrics, such as in reggaetón, and in social networks. This content incentivizes verbal aggression toward women under the pretext of compliments, and even the secret recording of romantic dates or sexual relations, which is then used to spread content with sexist behavior and violence. Violence is understood as intense physical, verbal, or psychological aggression (Glowacki et al. 2016). In many cases, violence and sexist conduct are reproduced by young people without them being conscious of the repercussions of their actions. This is because they are not mature enough to understand that violence also includes any act taken against a person’s religious freedom as well as sexual violations, with or without the use of weapons (Flores 2005; Monahan 2018).

In an increasingly internationalized world, religion, as an identity and an element of social configuration (Kinnvall 2004), is an important factor to consider within social sciences. The religious story, like every explanatory account of reality, conditions self-perception and gender roles that, being learned generally in childhood, configure the learning framework with which people build their self-concepts. The identity and the sense of belonging that religions provide configure personality and provide a common account that facilitates an understanding of social reality and channels human relationships on a community-wide scope.

Poorly resolved conflicts generate frustration, which can lead to violence (Pazos et al. 2014) as a last resort to resolve the conflict using primary survival instinct above more evolved social frameworks of coexistence that every society promotes. Numerous studies have warned that early exposure to stressful situations associated with violence in the context of videogames or music, whether this violence is physical or psychological, negatively impacts the mental health of children (Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, and Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics 2012; Shonkoff and Garner 2012).

With regards to the social determinants of health, stressful factors within the functioning of children’s psychological health tend to provoke uncontrolled emotional responses at school (Howell and Graham-Bermann 2011). This may be due to belonging to a certain peer group or overexposure to covert violent actions, sometimes implicitly and other times explicitly.

Environmental factors can influence the development of actions through means of participatory community-based information, which, in the majority of cases, lacks parental and institutional control, and can influence the social setting within which the individual is immersed. Known risk factors include the peer groups of other cultures, races, or religions, remembering gender as an important determining factor of the psychological health of young people. These risks are important because around the world and throughout history, family, and cultural contexts have provided powerful means for studying the contribution of the development of the construction, mediation, and maintenance of power relationships between men and women (Zegarra Postigo et al. 2009). This is especially evident in patriarchal societies where women are under the authority of men in all aspects of their lives. Further research is needed in this field to understand the relationship between belonging and the emotional psychological health of a society characterized by community-based participatory information. Gender spaces (Carmona and Ezzamel 2016) should be examined based on how society treats women (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997), often converting them into objects of desire. This is seen in the way women appear in advertisements and the music lyrics in diverse music genres. This is defined as objectification and should be considered due to its influence on a wide range of sociocultural contexts (Fernandez et al. 2017), such as religion, culture, and society as a whole.

For a multicultural society to be considered truly democratic, it must evolve from a position of multiculturality to one of interculturality (Fernández 2005). To this end, in pursuit of overcoming the limitations of multiculturality, García and Goenechea (2009) introduced the concept of interculturality. However, to achieve this evolution from multiculturality to interculturality, the involvement of the educational community is necessary, as is the participation of society (Moliner and Moliner 2010).

In this sense, we concur with Donoso (2018) suggestion:

to review the structural character of cultural traditions, to analyze the impact stratified according to sex (roles, functions, tasks, resources, and benefits), in addition to assuming the heterogenous, contradictory and versatile character of the social identities (gender, ethnicity, class…), the relational cultural and gender character, and the gender variable as a function of cultures and contexts.

(p. 21)

Finally, the objectification of women as well as of men, when relevant, is an exposure that brings with it denigration and turns them into victims of objectification in social networks and other means of communication (Yudes-Gómez et al. 2018). This dimension has psychological repercussions (self-concept and self-esteem) on children and young people in social networks. This is especially true in young people who belong to minority cultures and religions whose cultural and religious values are different from the norm (Zych et al. 2015).

Based on the previous analysis, the objectives of the present study were as follows: (1) to design and validate an instrument to analyze the impact of reification, according to the cultural relational nature and sex of participants as a function of their cultures and contexts; (2) to determine the possible associations between a society of community-based participatory information and the variables of sex and religion; and (3) a quantitative study was conducted based on analytical-empirical social research methods. This study is descriptive in nature.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Method

For this investigation, a quantitative study based on social analytical-empirical research method was conducted. This study is descriptive in nature (Howell et al. 2008).

2.2. Participants

We analyzed the associations between sex, religion, and gender violence in university students selected through random sampling. Seven different types (from a total of 26) of degree qualifications from the Faculty of Education in Southern Spain (Melilla, Spain), University of Granada, were selected through a random draw, followed by random selection of one class from each year of the course at the selected institution. Melilla is a city located in the north eastern part of Magreb, known as Rif, and with a population of approximately 83,679 inhabitants. It is the city with the highest birth rate in Spain, together with one of the lowest mortality rates.

In total, 1120 students participated in the study. The students were selected through non-probability sampling (convenience), with the questionnaire provided to students from centers who wished to participate. The selection was conducted in two stages, differentiated by the validity analysis to be performed for each: 810 women (72.5%) and 310 men (27.5%). The age of participants ranged between 17 and 25 years old (Mean = 19.84 years). With respect to the religion variable, we organized the participants between only two groups: Muslims (n = 25%) and Catholics (n = 66.10%). The group pertaining to ‘others’ included participants who identified with the following denominations: Jews (n = 1.80%), atheists (n = 6.10%), and Hindus (n = 1%). With respect to sex and religion, 27.30% of the included Muslims were women (n = 15%) and 10% were men. Similarly, 66.10% of the participating Catholics were women (n = 40%) and 26.10% were men.

2.3. Instrument

Each participant received the questionnaire developed for the present study, which was based on questionnaires developed from the Reification Questionnaire by Tylka and Augustus-Horvath (2011) and from a measure of psychological maltreatment of women by their male partners by Tolman (1989), which was shortened and adapted to the context of Southern Spain and further modified to incorporate the variable describing religion. As an initial focus in selecting the items to be included in the questionnaire, a group of students (n = 360) with similar characteristics to the sample used in the present study were asked to indicate all the items with which they most identified. After collecting this information and to follow the process of content validity, the questionnaire was analyzed using an expert panel process. First, the questionnaire was presented to the experts together with a table, in which they were asked to evaluate the questionnaire. Specifically, 12 judges evaluated the instrument using Delphi’s method (Escobar-Pérez and Cuervo-Martínez 2008). They signaled any item that they deemed to be unclear or badly written, in addition to suggesting recommendations regarding its relevance, congruence, and adequacy. All the members of the expert panel held positions in a university environment and were experts in the field of investigation related to the present research. The final version of the adapted instrument was developed in the exploratory phase. To this end, three rounds of analyses were conducted through discussions amongst members of the coordinating group, considering all adjustments and corrections presented by the expert group. The percentage of agreement (K) within the coordinating group in the first round of discussions ranged between K ≥ 62 and K ≥ 78, between K ≥ 72 and K ≥ 86 in the second round, and between K ≥ 85 and K ≥ 90 in the third round.

Those items whose agreement percentage amongst the expert panel from the coordinating group was K ≥ 70 and whose evaluations by the expert group on the Likert scale were mostly lower than 3 were modified, eliminated, or regrouped. Following the application of this method, most elements were not significantly modified, although two were completely eliminated and some were grouped into two. This means that the final questionnaire included 18 questions divided between five dimensions.

The survey instrument was divided into two parts. In the first part, participants were requested to provide their personal information, including sex, age, and religion. The second part included questions about the frequency with which participants’ opinions manifested with respect to the items expressed. A 5-point scale was used that ranged from 1 = I never hear this, to 5 = Always. An exploratory factorial analysis (EFA) was applied to examine the instruments’ construct validity. To guarantee the validity and reliability of the instrument, a factorial analysis of the variables was then completed. The objective of this exploratory study was to estimate the validity of the questionnaire. To validate the instrument, the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) index was calculated. A KMO value above 0.5 is considered to be acceptable. The KMO index here was 0.862. Hence, the coefficient was close to achieving singularity and was sufficient to proceed to the next step in analyzing the validity and reliability of the test. Using the test of sphericity, we ensured that the level of significance was adequate. The value obtained was 0.000, which enabled us to proceed with the factorial analysis. Finally, from the table of variance for the rotated component matrix, we were able to obtain the variance outcomes for all the analyzed variables. The outcomes from the previously described analysis identified the existence of five factors that, when combined, explained 68.525% of the variance. We estimated the reliability of the scores provided on the scale using for ordinal data (Elosua Oliden and Zumbo 2008) producing a result of 0.859.

Following this, we conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using the structural equation modeling (SEM) methodology, through which we examined the multivariate regression coefficients based on structural equations (González-Montesinos and Backhoff 2010). With regard to the application of indexes of goodness of fit between the derived data matrix and the matrix reproduced by the model, the difference between them was not statistically significant, so we determined that both matrices were close, indicating that the measurement model and the observed data fit together.

From these parameters (15 variables and 3 factors), we eliminated three variables so that the model would not be convergent (the deleted variables were 3, 4, and 5) (Figure 1). A model was formed with 90 degrees of freedom (df) with a maximum likelihood, and characterized by a χ² of 121.89. The p-value was less than 0.05, indicating that the difference between the compared covariance matrices (the derivative and the reproduced) is statistically significant.

We used the quadratic error of approximation: Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) (Bentler and Bonett 1980). The RMSEA value was 0.062. The Normalized Fit Index (NFI) (Bentler and Bonett 1980) was 0.889 and the comparison with respect to the saturated model: Comparative adjustment goodness index (CFI) was 0.930; all values were more than optimal (Bentler 1990), that is χ²/df < 5, CFI > 0.90, and RMSEA < 0.08 (Kline 2011).

The majority of existing questionnaires for diagnosing reification ignore religious, cultural, and ethnic variables, focusing instead only on the Reification Questionnaire by Tylka and Augustus-Horvath (2011) and the development of a measure of psychological maltreatment of women by their male partners by Tolman (1989). For this reason, the instrument we used established three dimensions to analyze the reification of the society of community-based participatory information, driven by the cultural and religious diversity of the environment in which it occurs.

The first dimension is called reification relating to the sexual harassment that occurs through relational means of communication. It is related to the dimension reported by Bueno and Domingo (2016), which is the coercive effect of the dominant culture within minority groups.

The second dimension is verbal threats and harassment through digital networks. It refers to violent situations that cause behavioral problems, such as insults or harassment. Means of physical contact are used as much as digital means to reach social groups (Muñoz Molina 2016).

Finally, the third dimension describes the feeling of harassment and objectification of the person. This type of occurrence, especially amongst young people from different cultures and religions, causes socio-emotional unbalances affecting personality, self-esteem, and social habits. This is particularly likely when young people are faced with an environment in which they feel that they are seen as objects and actions are taken against the freedom of religion of the people within it (Monahan 2018).

2.4. Procedure

2.4.1. Comprehension Validity of the Instrument

We conducted pilot study to check validity. In this study, the instrument was distributed to a sample of 1002 (duration of 30 to 60 min) to establish the level of comprehension from a qualitative perspective while noting of doubts and suggestions.

2.4.2. Data Collection Procedure

We administered the questionnaires in paper format and using Google forms online during off hours to avoid interfering with the sample’s planned class timetable. The questionnaire was administered during March and April 2018. It was approved by the directors of the participants’ schools, who collaborated with the research and provided the opportunities for data to be better collected. Accordingly, questionnaires were presented to the students; they were distributed and read together so that any questions related to comprehension and completion of the task could be answered. Once agreement was secured from the director of the centers, questionnaires were administered in a group setting to small groups of women and men. Twelve postgraduate students were present to provide support and facilitate understanding of the questions. We guaranteed that all information collected would be used only for the purpose of scientific research and that the anonymity of the participants would be preserved. Participants were not informed of the purpose of the study to avoid insincere responses and to reduce the effects of social desirability as much as possible.

2.5. Data Analysis

For the purpose of data analysis, we used a content analysis of the qualitative questions. Quantitative data were analyzed according to descriptive statistics and estimations of internal consistency, produced using SPSS 24.0, as mentioned above. A semi-confirmatory factorial analysis was conducted using FACTOR Analysis 9.3.1 (Martínez-Martínez et al. 2019). A confirmatory analysis was conducted using LISREL Analysis 9.1.

Data were tested to determine the type of statistical procedure to be adopted (parametric or non-parametric tests). The Levene statistic was calculated from a t-test for independent samples. This was adopted when the data indicated homogeneity of variance for both the variables of sex and religion. In this case, due to the assumption of homogeneity of variance being satisfied and having a sufficiently large sample size, parametric tests were adopted (Warner et al. 2005).

Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used by employing a multi-level design for multiple comparisons of various factor levels to evaluate differences between participating groups according to the study variables (sex and religion).

3. Results

Table 1. Means and standard deviations for reification in community-based intercultural questionnaire (QRICS) by sex and religion.

Items	Religion	Men		Women		Total
		Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
How often have you been whistled while walking down the street?	Christian	2.20	0.768	3.13	0.789	2.85	0.885
	Muslim	2.25	1.165	3.30	0.470	3.00	0.861
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			3.00	0.000	3.00	0.000
	Total	2.21	0.876	3.17	0.701	2.90	0.867
To what extent do you think that video clips and reggaetón lyrics empower men?	Christian	3.50	1.051	4.46	0.582	4.18	0.863
	Muslim	3.75	0.886	4.50	0.688	4.29	0.810
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			5.00	0.000	5.00	0.000
	Total	3.57	0.997	4.49	0.608	4.22	0.844
How often have you felt that someone was evaluating your physical appearance?	Christian	3.40	1.129	3.71	0.617	3.62	0.773
	Muslim	2.50	1.046	3.50	0.513	3.21	0.876
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			4.00	0.000	4.00	0.000
	Total	3.14	1.195	3.66	0.587	3.51	0.815
How often have you felt that someone was staring at your body?	Christian	3.00	1.145	3.46	0.771	3.32	0.800
	Muslim	2.25	0.795	3.60	0.503	3.21	0.787
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			3.00	0.000	3.00	0.000
	Total	2.79	0.463	3.49	0.697	3.29	0.786
How often have you noticed that someone looks lewdly at your body?	Christian	2.60	0.787	3.17	0.753	3.00	0.810
	Muslim	3.00	0.821	3.20	0.616	3.14	0.651
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			3.00	0.000	3.00	0.000
	Total	2.71	0.756	3.17	0.701	3.04	0.759
How often have you heard rude sexual comments about your body?	Christian	2.00	0.795	2.92	0.919	2.65	0.974
	Muslim	2.50	0.1604	2.40	0.821	2.43	1.069
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			3.00	0.000	3.00	0.000
	Total	2.14	0.1079	2.77	0.904	2.59	0.993
How often have you been groped against your will?	Christian	1.10	0.308	1.62	0.866	1.47	0.782
	Muslim	1.25	0.463	1.40	0.681	1.36	0.621
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			2.00	0.000	2.00	0.000
	Total	1.14	0.356	1.57	0.809	1.45	0.734
How often have you felt harassed sexually through social network sites?	Christian	1.10	0.308	1.58	0.919	1.44	0.817
	Muslim	1.75	0.463	1.40	0.503	1.50	0.509
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			2.00	0.000	2.00	0.000
	Total	1.29	0.460	1.54	0.811	1.47	0.735
How often have you been whistled while you were walking down the street?	Christian	1.70	0.801	3.08	0.964	2.68	1.112
	Muslim	2.00	0.756	3.30	0.657	2.93	0.900
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			3.00	0.000	3.00	0.000
	Total	1.79	0.787	3.14	0.873	2.76	1.046
How often have you seen someone notice some parts of your body?	Christian	2.40	0.681	3.08	0.871	2.88	0.873
	Muslim	2.50	0.535	3.30	0.470	3.07	0.604
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			3.00	0.000	3.00	0.000
	Total	2.43	0.634	3.14	0.767	2.94	0.797
How often have you inadvertently heard Jews, Atheists, and Hindus make sexual comments about your body?	Christian	1.80	0.894	2.46	0.874	2.26	0.924
	Muslim	2.50	0.926	2.30	0.801	2.36	0.826
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			3.00	0.000	3.00	0.000
	Total	2.00	0.943	2.43	0.844	2.31	0.890
How often have you noticed that someone was not listening to what you are saying, but staring at some part of your body?	Christian	2.00	0.649	2.63	1.044	2.44	0.983
	Muslim	3.00	1.069	2.70	0.657	2.79	0.787
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			3.00	0.000	3.00	0.000
	Total	2.29	0.897	2.66	0.931	2.55	0.932
How often have you heard someone make a sexual comment or hint while looking at your body?	Christian	1.80	0.616	2.50	0.923	2.29	0.899
	Muslim	1.75	0.463	2.40	0.681	2.21	0.686
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			3.00	0.000	3.00	0.000
	Total	1.79	0.568	2.49	0.847	2.29	0.837
How often have you been pinched or pinched on an intimate part of your body against your will?	Christian	1.40	0.503	1.83	0.996	1.71	0.899
	Muslim	3.25	1.389	1.30	0.470	1.86	1.208
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu			2.00	0.000	2.00	0.000
	Total	1.93	1.184	1.69	0.894	1.76	0.985
How often has someone made degrading sexual gestures, comments, or advances about you through social network sites?	Christian	1.40	0.503	1.96	1.071	1.79	0.971
	Muslim	2.25		1.50	0.513	1.71	1.049
	Jewish, Atheist, and Hindu		1.753	2.00	0.000	2.00	0.000
	Total	1.64	1.062	1.83	0.947	1.78	0.979

Note: QRICS of sex and religion.

demonstrates that within the context of this study, Muslim women feel that they are frequently whistled at while walking down the street, that the lyrics of modern songs empower men and in the same way reify women, and report often feeling that they are being watched closely. With regards to Christian women, they highlighted that they have often heard somebody make a sexual comment toward them or make insinuations when looking at their bodies. Muslim men stated they feel sexually objectified in their social or work environment.

Table 2. ANOVA and effect size (η²) for QRICS by sex and religion.

Items	Sex			Religion			Sex × Religion
	F	p	η2	F	p	η2	F	p	η2
How often have you been whistled at while walking down the street?	31.468	0.000	0.253	0.381	0.684	0.008	0.109	0.742	0.001
To what extent do you think that video clips and reggaetón lyrics empower men?	30.239	0.000	0.245	0.678	0.510	0.014	0.319	0.573	0.003
How often have you felt that someone was evaluating your physical appearance?	9.158	0.003	0.090	3.062	0.052	0.062	3.369	0.070	0.035
How often have you felt that someone was staring at your body?	19.720	0.000	0.175	0.754	0.473	0.016	6.508	0.012	0.065
How often have you noticed that someone was looking lewdly at your body?	7.672	0.007	0.076	0.407	0.667	0.009	1.004	0.319	0.011
How often have you heard rude sexual comments about your body?	8.911	0.004	0.087	0.620	0.540	0.013	4.742	0.032	0.049
How often have you been groped against your will?	7.215	0.009	0.072	0.638	0.531	0.014	1.124	0.292	0.012
How often have you felt harassed (sexually) through social network sites?	2.575	0.112	0.027	0.481	0.620	0.010	5.500	0.021	0.056
How often have you been whistled at while you were walking down the street?	50.388	0.000	0.349	50.388	0.000	0.349	0.039	0.845	0.000
How often have you been pinched or pinched on an intimate part of your body against your will?	18.690	0.000	0.166	18.690	0.000	0.166	0.102	0.751	0.001
How often has someone made degrading sexual gestures, comments, or advances about you through social network sites?	4.921	0.029	0.050	4.921	0.029	0.050	4.021	0.048	0.041

Note: The multilevel linear adjustment was used to reduce the type I error (α). Thus, the α-value was divided by the number of pair comparisons for each ANOVA.

shows the results of the ANOVA conducted on the variables of sex and religion, and the interaction between them. Initially, the multivariate test indicated significant differences and large effect sizes for reification with regards to sex (F = 9.567, p < 0.001 and η² = 0.994), non-significant differences regarding religion (F = 1.468, p = 0.061, η² = 0.257), and significant outcomes for the interaction between sex and religion (F = 6.206, p < 0.001, η² = 0.595).

The multivariate test is a response to the need to simultaneously analyze the relationship between different levels of the same variable with other variables with several levels (Jaime Andréu 2011), which allowed us to statistically model the influence of independent sex variables (with two levels) and religion (with five levels) on the coding measured at the individual level. This allowed us to identify the covariance effect of these variables. The results indicate significant differences and large effect sizes for reification with respect to sex, which indicates that in relation to the significance of being female, in most cases, they feel equally victims of harassment in both the social and cybernetic environments. The sample size or proportion of the variance explained (ANOVA) (Badenes-Ribera et al. 2018) indicated, with respect to the sex variable, that more than 99.4% (η² = 0.994) of the differences found can be attributed to the effect of reification. Similarly, the results obtained show non-significant differences with respect to religion as a function of reification, and the sample size (ANOVA) (Badenes-Ribera et al. 2018) indicated, with respect to the religion variable, that only 25.7% (η² = 0.257) of the differences found can be attributed to the effect of reification, which, although the value is small, is still one-quarter of the population surveyed, which, in social terms and based on the study, is a value to consider. Since this was a multivariate study, the interaction between the sex and religion variables was significant for the values studied, which indicates that when the levels of these variables interact, significant differences between religion and sex can be found, highlighting that, in most of the dependent variables measured, Muslim women feel the greatest feeling of harassment. However, Christian women also feel uncomfortable and hear to obscene comments about their bodies and are often improperly observed. We pay particular attention to Muslim men indicating a feeling of being sexually objectified in their social environment in one of the variables measured. This may be due to other causes, such as their culture being less accustomed to the empowerment of women, as well as the nature of the study, which was conducted with university students of the female sex, who may have felt that their sex requires them to act differently from what they assume as natural, which, in some cases, bothered them. We think this is a good starting point for future research in this field. In relation to the square sample size in the interaction between sex and religion, almost 60% (η² = 0.595) of the differences found were attributed to the effect of reification.

The fit of the ANOVA outcomes of the data reveals that reification in intercultural community-based society as a function of sex and religion with regards to the reification of Muslim women was more closely linked to the items describing the empowerment of men (p = 0.001), the feeling that one’s body was being closely watched (p = 0.012), and being whistled at while walking down the street (p = 0.48). Christian women often heard unpleasant comments about their body (p = 0.032), and Muslim men felt harassed in their socio-occupational environment (p = 0.21). Reification in an intercultural community-based society produced moderate effect sizes in relation to religion. The remaining effects were all small in size.

4. Discussion

We analyzed the associations between sex and religion in reification in a community-based society of university students from the Faculty of Education Sciences in Southern Spain.

The location was selected as a scene of interest for sociological, anthropological, and educational studies. It is a multicultural city where individuals from the Christian, Muslim, Evangelist, Hebrew, Hindu, and atheist communities live together. In this space of cultural wealth, a conglomerate of community networks has emerged, cemented by strong feelings of cultural identity and roots.

The religious range of the autonomous city of Melilla presents, unlike the other regions of the Spanish State, a peculiar physiognomy. Quantitatively, due to the geographical location and historical background of Melilla, one of its most characteristic features is the coexistence between different groups differentiated in terms of language, traditions, culture, and religion. Thus, in these multicultural contexts, new challenges regarding the transformation of gender stereotypes to address gender inequalities related to cultural and ethnic inequalities have become established.

When discussing Melilla, we are talking about a sociocultural context with two major groups, one of Hispanic origin, identifying with Spanish customs and the Catholic religion, and another of Rifian or Berber origin, speaking the Tamazight language and practicing Islam. Melilla is a city that is distributed, from the religious point of view, into two major groups that are currently almost balanced—Catholics and Muslims. Alongside these two major religious groups, others exist—Jews and Hindus—which, although very small, have cultural footprints that are still present and their initiatives are active in the social group. These four groups are recognized as the bearers of the four cultures and religions that constitute the official religious population of Melilla (Briones et al. 2013). In Melilla, there are several evangelical churches and other groups, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Bahá’í faith (Gómez et al. 2013; Mayoral 2003). Western societies of the 21st century that are multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious are called to design a new system of peaceful coexistence that guarantees the freedom and rights of all.

Thus, it is important to highlight some data that must be studied and analyzed in depth in future studies. These include data obtained for men who follow the Muslim religion, which was most significant in relation to the following item: How frequently have you felt sexually harassed through social network sites? A total of 85.70% reported having sometimes felt that people did not pay attention to them while they were talking as they were instead looking closely at some part of their body. In total, 82.1% had felt that somebody had made insinuations while closely looking at a part of their body. Another 53.70% had, on occasion, suffered being touched somewhere on their body against their will, whereas 53.70% had noted that others sometimes made degrading gestures toward them. A total of 78.6% sometimes overheard unpleasant comments about their body, with 92.9% feeling that a part of their body had been watched closely, 87.50% having been occasionally whistled at while they had walked down the street, and 42.90% reporting having felt harassed at some moment. In total, 33.9% had been groped against their will, 85.7% had heard sexual comments about their body, with 100% having felt somebody looking at their body closely and in a lecherous way. In total, 92.90% had felt that their physical appearance was being judged and 92.9% of the surveyed population had, on some occasion, been whistled at while walking along the street (Barberá and Martínez 2004; Martínez and Bonilla 2000). The female identity is still considered to be represented by emotional dependence, understanding, and taking care of others, whereas the male identity is known for self-sufficiency, rationality, emotional control, competitiveness, and the use of violence (Lagarde 2005).

These ideals produce normative group patterns and influence subjectivity and inter-subjectivity. The exclusion of women from spaces of power, and their invisibility in socio-political environments and other spaces that determine what the surrounding world means, contribute to the maintenance of the supposed differences in nature between the sexes. This is reflected in social discrimination and the types of prejudices that exist about the capabilities of women.

The role of women in the Islamic religion is controversial, although the ideas of supporters are emerging increasingly strongly for an interpretation of the Koran appropriate to the times and current to social reality. This is happening in Western countries, usually because many generations have already been raised and formed relationships with Christian, Muslims, Hebrews and Hindus neighbors, among others (that is the reality in Melilla), which inevitably leads in these generations to an important evolution in their experiences of feeling the differences and equality in their society.

The idea underlying the Koran engenders respect among all Muslims, whether male or female, although the historical reality has led to the imposition of a unitary patriarchal vision whose consequences have been borne by women, especially in countries with strong Arabic influence. In the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) study that analyzed the 10 worst countries for women, seven of these countries were Muslim. This situation is exemplified in civil rights (for example, women inherit half), political, in terms of dignity (the use of the Islamic veil) and even in terms of marriage (a husband is selected by the father or firstborn). In this sense, a sexual division of public and private space exists for the practice of certain religious rituals: most mosques in Spain have separate prayer areas for men and women, and some forbid women to enter. Therefore, for women. the usual space for prayer or religious practice is the house.

The problem is awareness, as the culture is dominated by men and women are considered to have fewer rights and freedom, receive less respect, and have lower decision-making capacity (Informe Violencia de Género 2009).

ANOVA testing demonstrated significant differences and varied effect sizes in the frequency of participants’ responses with regards to reification in community-based societies as a function of sex and religion.

5. Conclusions

We conclude that the reification of Muslim women was more linked to the items describing empowerment of men, the feeling of having their body closely watched, and being whistled at while walking along the street. Muslim men reported feeling harassed in their socio-occupational environment. This may be due, in part, this study being conducted with university students, and educated women tend to feel more empowered. Muslim men are as oppressed as women in many situations, and sometimes more (Mojena 2011) and context is an important factor in this conclusion. Given the contextual characteristics of Melilla, this city was chosen, in 2001, by the General State Administration in Spain, as one of the 10 cities to conduct pilot experiments to combat gender-based violence against women, as the incidence of this problem among its population has been the greatest. Although we should be aware this violence, Muslim women are not exposed in the same way. Factors such as race, class, education, ethnicity, or belonging to the third or first world do not count as a result of a large number of deaths and physical abuse that have been documented.

In this study, we started from the concept of the prevention of gender violence, including women and men and family models assimilated in families based on co-responsibility amongst the sexes, religion, and the human rights of each member of family groups (Schmukler 2010; Schmukler and Levín 2012).

The support of this study was to better understand Muslim family structures based on power and authority relationships that demand traditional gender paradigms to be overcome to not reproduce abusive and violent relationships among the next generation of university students interviewed in our study. Therefore, new gender paradigms must be established to foster family and couple relationships based on equal opportunities between men and women.

Currently, the number of university students in the Autonomous City of Melilla who practice Catholicism and Islam, which are the main religious affiliations in the city, are represented both in the classrooms and in some qualifications, with the number of Muslim women exceeding the Catholic population. The predominant family models in place in Muslim houses in the city provide an education based on equal opportunities for men and women for academic training. Parents do not see marriage as the only option for their daughters. They are making economic efforts to offer their children a university education. The discourse is changing in the following ways:

Before, a parent may state to a girl, “Learn to cook, wash clothes, and raise your children, otherwise your husband and mother-in-law will reject you”. Now, a parent may say, “Take advantage of your studies to have training and profession to not depend on anyone in the future.”

We must try to find a solution to the situations of inequality faced by women, where all women are treated the same regardless of political-cultural or religious background. Regarding those that are not punished, the states, and in our specific case, Spain, should complete certain actions to guarantee the universality of women’s rights within the framework of religions.

The need to consider the gender and cultural perspective of the construction of knowledge, as was presented here, is evidenced by numerous reports and studies (Aroa et al. 2011; Buitendijk and Maes 2015; Hollander et al. 2011; Comisión Europea 2009; Donoso 2018; Vázquez 2014; Vergé and Cabruja 2017). Thus, this need can be summarized through the following phrases: ‘research quality is sensitive to gender’ by the European Commission in 2009 (p. 12), ‘if gender and culture are not examined in the approach taken, methodological design and the subsequent transfer of knowledge from research studies, we will not be able to understand social phenomena in all their complexity nor will we achieve effects through preventative interventions’ (Horizonte 2020 2014).

These studies allow us to demonstrate the strength with which reification within the sexes is linked to the cultural norms and social education of each religion. We provided evidence to help us better understand the relationship between the examined factors (religion and sex) and reification in a sample of young people from an intercultural population.

As this issue is now one of the five priorities of the Reinforced European Research Area Partnership for Excellence and Growth (ERA) policy of the European Commission and is integrated as an objective in the Program Framework for Research and Innovation of the European Union for 2014–2020, attempts must be made to achieve a transversal approach to gender and culture in future research (Vergé and Cabruja 2017; Martínez et al. 2014). Studies of community-based reification must focus specifically on differences in culture, status, and power based on gender (European Institute for Gender Equaliy 2018; Castañeda 2008; Harding 1997; and Pujal and García-Dauder 2010). As a result, different objectives are implemented for each level of the research cycle, including gender equality and cultural diversity within research teams (Biglia and Vergés Bosch 2016; Díaz 2014).

It is necessary to highlight some limitations of the present study. First, sex and religion are not variables that can be experimentally manipulated. This makes it impossible to accurately measure their level of influence with regards to gender violence. Secondly, the sample should be broadened to include all religions that coexist in Southern Spain with the objective of obtaining significant outcomes from the data collected from the questionnaire. We underline the need to conduct new studies capable of providing evidence of the effects of religion and sex in relation to the reification experienced by people and the social tenets required for this reification to occur. Amongst the limitations identified in the present study is the difficulty of accessing the sample, although the time required to collect data was found to be reliable. Thus, we conclude that the results of this study will enable multi-dimensional analyses to be conducted in the future.