Hatam Hosseini; Maryam Geravand
Abstract
With the arrivalof modernityin Iranthe society normshave changedandtraditional patterns,especially family pattern, has been under various changes simultaneously. For instance,theaverage age of marriagefor girlshas increased over the past decades. This paper aims todetermine and analyze factors affecting ...
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With the arrivalof modernityin Iranthe society normshave changedandtraditional patterns,especially family pattern, has been under various changes simultaneously. For instance,theaverage age of marriagefor girlshas increased over the past decades. This paper aims todetermine and analyze factors affecting the gap in women’s behavior and attitudes ontheappropriate age ofmarriage for girlsin the city of Koohdasht. Residents of this regionethnically and culturally belong to Lor and Lak ethnic groups. Lack of any knowledgeonmarriage patterns ofwomen of these ethnic groups would necessitate this study. Data istakenfrom a survey conducted on a sample of 395 once-married women living in ordinaryhouseholds atthe city of Koohdasht in April 2013. A combination of sampling techniquesincluding multistage clustering and systematic random sampling were employed. Resultsindicated gaps in women’s behavior and their attitude on the appropriate age ofmarriage. The63 percent of participants proposed a mean age of marriage for girls completely different tothe age of their own marriage. The gaps are mostly in a negative direction. More than 80percent of women took part in the test proposed a higher age for girls’ marriage compared totheir own age of marriage. According to this study, socio-economic status of women,postmaterialist attitudes to marriage, women’s autonomy and age at the time of the studyhadthe most impact on the rate of the gap between women’s behavior and attitudes ontheappropriate age ofmarriage. The results also reflected the fact that the combination ofsocio-economic, demographic characteristics and ethnic-cultural factors could provide a betterexplanation forthe gap in women’s behavior and attitude on theage of marriage.
