A Comparative Study on Perceived & Ideal Family Structures in 5 Iranian Cities

Through a national research, perception and ideal family structures of parents and their young adult children in 4 different Iranian ethnicities were compared. Three hundred and seventy six families (1128 persons) including father, mother and a young adult child (1529 yearsold) were selected randomly by cluster sampling among families living in Tehran (as the capital and mixed ethnic groups), Isfahan (for Farses), Tabriz (for Torks), Sanandaj (for Kords), and Khoramabad (for Lors) cities. All three members of the families participating in the project completed the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale-third version (FACES-III, Olson et al. 1985) separately. Results revealed significant differences between percept ion and ideal family structures of the family members in different cities. For instance, while young adult children in Tabriz showed the lowest distance with their parents in the perceived and ideal cohesion and the perceived adaptability scales, they showed the highest distance with their parents in the ideal adaptability scale. Comparison of the family satisfact ion between young adult children and their parents also revealed interesting differences between the five cities; While the young adult sons in Tabriz and Koramabad showed lower satisfaction than one or both of their parents, in Tehran, Isfahan, and Sanandaj, it was the young adult daughters who reported lower family satisfaction than one or both of their parents.Reviewof the observed differences; strongly suggest the proposition that these differences are mostly related to the ethnical characteristics (subcultural values about closeness and togetherness, change, control and gender) of families as well as ecological differences between these cities.