Abstract
This report is aimed at investigating beliefs and intentions of Iranian adolescents regarding marriage and family building approximately four years after the Islamic Revolution, which brought substantial political and cultural changes. Differences associated with gender and parental education were found in beliefs and intentions regarding marriage and family building. Also, the sample seemed to hold more traditional cultural values than did a comparable prerevolutionary sample of youth who were from the same geographical location and were of the same sex and parental educational background. However, it was found that even the groups from the lowest educational background showed some degree of nontraditional attitudes and intentions regarding marriage and family. Interpreting the findings in light of cultural observations and attitude change theory, it is argued that a certain degree of “real” attitude change has occurred, and is continuing, in the nontraditional direction among educated youth.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aghajanian, A. (1984). “Parental education and infant mortality,” Biology and Society 1: 136–138.
Al-e-Ahmad, J. (1961). Occidentosis: A Plague From the West (translated by Robert Campbell, edited by Hamid Algar). Berkeley, California: Mizan Press, 1985.
Banani, (1961). The Modernization of Iran, 1921–1941. Stanford University Press.
Bauer, J. (1984). “New models and traditional networks: Migrant women in Tehran,” in J.T. Fawcett, S. Khoo, and P.C. Smith (eds.), Women in the Cities of Asia: Migration and Urban Adaptation. Boulder, Colorado: Westview.
Bauer, J. (1985). “Demographic change, women and the family in a migrant neighborhood of Tehran,” in A. Fathi(ed.), Women and the Family in Iran. Leiden: Brill.
Benard, C. and Z. Khalilzad (1984). “The Government of God”: Iran's Islamic Republic. New York: Columbia University Press.
Brehm, J.W. (1966). A Theory of Psychological Reactance. New York: Academic Press.
Caldwell, J.C. (1980). “Mass education as a determinant of the timing of fertility decline,” Population and Development Review 6: 225–255.
Campbell, R. (1985). Introduction to the Translation of Occidentosis: A Plague from the West (by Ale-ahmad, 1961). Berkeley, California: Mizan Press, 1985.
Eftekhari, A. and M. Khan (1974). The Pattern of Age of Marriage in Shiraz. Shiraz, Iran: Pahlavi Population Center.
Faust, K., R. Bach, S. Gadalla, H. Khattab, and J. Gulick (1987). Mass education, Islamic revival, and the population problem in Egypt. Paper presented in the annual meetings of the Population Association of America, May, 1987.
Fishbein, M. and I. Ajzen (1975). Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.
Fischer, M.J. (1978). “On changing the concept and position of Persian women,” in L. Beck and N. Keddie (eds.), Women in the Muslim World. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Good, M.D. (1978). “Parents' aspirations for children and family planning in Iran,” in J. Allman (ed.), Women's Status and Fertility in the Muslim World. New York: Praeger.
Gulick, J. and M.E. Gulick (1975). “Kinship, contraception and family planning in the Iranian city of Isfahan,” in M. Nag (ed.), Population and Social Organization. Paris: Mouton.
Gulick, J. and M.E. Gulick (1977). “Family structures and adaptations in the Iranian city of Isfahan,” in J. Allman (ed.), Family, Fertility, and Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa. New York: Praeger, Special Studies.
Gulick, J. and M.E. Gulick (1978). “The domestic social environment of women and girls in Isfahan Iran,” in L. Beck and N. Keddie (eds.), Women in the Muslim World. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Haeri, S. (1986). “Power of ambiguity: Cultural improvisations on the theme of temporary marriage,” Iranian Studies 19: 123–154.
Heise, D.R. (1979). Understanding Events: Affect and the Construction of Social Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hosseini, A.A. and A. Tashakkori (1986). “Effects of individual and family characteristics on intelligence and school achievement in a group of Iranian elementary school students,” Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 1: 53–72 (in Persian, abstract in English).
Keddie, N. (1986). Iranian Revolution and the Islamic Republic. New York: Syracuse University Press.
Kelman, H.C. (1974). “Further thoughts on the process of compliance, identification, and internalization,” in J.T. Tedeschi (ed.), Perspectives on Social Power. Chicago: Aldine.
Mehryar, A.H. (1972). “Father's education, family size and children's intelligence and academic performance in Iran,” International journal of Psychology 7: 47–50.
Mehryar, A.H. and A. Tashakkori (1978). “Sex and parental education as determinants of marital aspirations and attitudes of a group of Iranian youth,” Journal of Marriage and the Family 40: 629–637.
Mehryar, A.H. and A. Tashakkori (1984). “A father's education as a determinant of the socio-economic and cultural characteristics of families in a sample of Iranian adolescents,” Sociological Inquiry 54: 62–71.
Momeni, J. (1979). “Determinants of female first marriage in Shiraz, Iran,” Canadian Studies in Population 6: 81–99.
Momeni, J. (1980). “Pattern and determinants of male age at first marriage in Shirez, Iran,” Population Review 1–2: 23–31.
Mysyoki, R.N. (1983). “Education and desired family size: A study of Korean youth.” Doctoral dissertation, Florida State University.
Nashat, G. (1980). “Women in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian Studies 13: 165–194.
Nassehi-Behnam, V. (1985). “Change and the Iranian family,” Current Anthropology 26: 557–562.
Newcomb, T.M. (1963). “Persistence and regression of changed attitudes: Long-ranged studies,” Journal of Social Issues 19: 3–14.
Pakizegi, B. (1978). “Legal and social position of Iranian women,” in L. Beck and N. Keddie (eds.), Women in the Muslim World. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Paydarfar, A.A. and M. Sarram (1970). “Differential fertility and socioeconomic status of Shirazi women: A pilot study,” Journal of Marriage and the Family 4: 692–699.
Rajaee, F. (1985). “The Islamic Cultural Revolution and the postrevolutionary Iranian society,” in S. Hunter (ed.), Internal Development in Iran. Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University.
Raven, B.H. and J.Z. Rubin (1976). “Interpersonal influence and social psychology,” in B.H. Raven and Jeffrey Z. Rubin (eds.), Social Psychology: People in Groups. New York: Wiley.
Rodgers, J.L. and V.D. Thompson (1985–86). “Toward a general framework of family configuration: A review of theory-based empirical research,” Population and Environment: Behavioral and Social Issues 8: 143–173.
Saroukhani, B. (1972). “Mate selection in contemporary Iranian Society,” in H. Zarinkoob(ed.), Proceedings of the Second Congress of Iranian Studies, vol. 2. Mashad, Iran: Mashad University Press.
Tashakkori, A. (1975). Correlates of Attitudes and Knowledge of Iranian Adolescents about Population and Family Planning. Shiraz, Iran: Pahlavi Population Center.
Tashakkori, A. and A.H. Mehryar (1981). “Father's education as a determinant of the socio-economic status and cultural milieu of the family in a sample of Iranian children.” Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
Tashakkori, A. and A.H. Mehryar (1983). “Perceptions of women's roles and rights among Iranian adolescents.” Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, Shiraz University, Iran.
Tashakkori, A., A.H. Mehryar, and F. Yousefi (1986). “Application of the Goodenough-Harris Draw-a-Man Test in a group of Iranian children,” Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 2: 19–31.
Tashakkori, A., V.D. Thompson, and A.H. Mehryar (1987). “‘Iranian adolescents’ intended age of marriage and desired family size,” Journal of Marriage and the Family 49: 917–924.
Thibaut, J.W. and H.H. Kelley (1959). The Social Psychology of Groups. New York: Wiley.
Teitelbaum, M.S. (1972). “Fertility effects of the abolition of legal abortion in Romania,” Population Studies 26: 405–417.
Touba, J.R. (1985). “Effects of the Islamic Revolution on women and the family in Iran,” in A. Fathi (ed.), Women and the Family in Iran. Leiden: Brill.
Vatandoust, G.R. (1985). “The status of the Iranian women: 1925–1980,” in Asghar Fathi (ed.), Women and the Family in Iran. Leiden: Brill.
Worchel, S. and S. Arnold (1973). “The effects of censorship and attractiveness of the censor on attitude change,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 9: 365–377.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tashakkori, A., Thompson, V.D. Cultural change and attitude change: An assessment of postrevolutionary marriage and family attitudes in Iran. Popul Res Policy Rev 7, 3–27 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00241760
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00241760