Demographic and Metacognitive Variations among Female University Students in the Arabian Gulf

This study examined the presence of significant associations among demographics (i.e., monthly income and the number of family members) and metacognition (i.e., understanding pictures representing real-life situations and objects) between two groups (N = 112) of female university students with and without niqab (i.e., only the eyes were visible). It also explored if there were significant differences between the two groups in metacognition. Participants responded to a computerized metacognitive instrument. Correlation results revealed that the females who wore niqab were significantly and more likely to have more family members and less income when compared with the females without niqab. ANOVA analysis showed no significant differences between the students with and without niqab on the metacognitive test, in reaction time (i.e.,duration in seconds), and on the metacognitive test scores divided by the mean of the reaction times. Implications and limitations are discussed.