پژوهشنامه جامعه شناسی جوانان
پیاپی 2 (1390)

The youth population in Iran has markedly increased over the recent decades. This partly lies in the improvement of health conditions, which have also expanded the life cycle. The growth of youth population can also have pathological and economic consequences such as unemployment. It is critically important to mention that the fast-growing communications technologies and the process of globalization have substantially affected the life of youth in more recent years. Accordingly, this article attempts to shed further lights on the needs and expectations of youth from various aspects including biological, psychological, social, cultural, and economic aspects. Finally, this article discusses identity crisis among youth particularly from a pathological perspective.

This article analyses the place of on-line leisure activities among university students. The age structure of population in Iran is very young and the country holds more than 3.5 million university students. Based on time-use data, this study highlights the main patterns related to the association between off-line and on-line leisure activities among university students in Tehran. According to the results of this study, those students who use internet in their leisure time are more likely: to communicate with their friends, to listen to music, to study, and to play games. They, however, are less likely to watch TV. In sum, the results of this study support the fact that internet has increased the importance and the functions of off-line leisure time, which particularly applies to youth.

This article focuses on the association between political participation and social capital. It presents research-based evidence to examine whether and how the levels of political participation are affected by social capital and its components. The results discussed in this article are based on a survey conducted in the major cities of Golestan Province. The sample includes 502 persons aged 19 years old and over. According to the results of this analysis, electoral participation (that is, voting) accounts for the most important aspect of political participation. Furthermore, the results of this analysis explored that the levels of political participation are most importantly associated with the following social capital characteristics: social network in formal relations level, inter-personal trust, social interaction in group interaction level, and cooperative interaction in both social and religious levels.

article presents research-based evidence to explain religious rites among youth from a pathological perspective. The article focuses particularly on a traditional form of religious rites so-called ‘sword matam’ (Ghameh-zani). The results discussed in this article are based on a survey including 30 persons aged 15-29 years old in Isfahan. According to the results of the present analysis, this particular religious rite is mostly the consequence of the misinterpretation of Ashora. It is also associated with other factors such as saint’s account, crying for Imam Hossein, sympathy with Imam Hossein, revolving the religion of Islam, reasoning according to NahiyaMoqadase pray.

This article focuses on changes value in society’s Iran in between three generation residences of Tehran. The key question this article is studying differences developments of value in between different generations and relation this differences with social developments happened in Iran. Theoretical basis the article based on theoretical discussions in fields value and generational developments. For measurement used of theory showartze who that classified values in within of power, need for achievement, hedonism, self- reliance, motivation, universalism, altruism, tradition, conformity and societal security. The classification of the generations is based on the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the War between Iran and Iraq: the generation who witnessed the Revolution and the War, and the two other generations who belong to the eras before and after the Revolution. The survey conducted in Tehran city. The survey includes 384 people who belong to three varying generations. The results of this study show that, on the one hand, there are insignificant variations among the generations with respect to such values as altruism and universalism. On the other hand, values associated with self-reliance, motivation, conformity, tradition, societal security, hedonism, and achievement vary significantly across the generations. However, it should be mentioned that while this study explores some differentials in values system among the generations, the differentials are not substantially high. Accordingly, the results of this analysis does not support ‘generational gap’.

This article presents research-based evidence to examine the identity crisis among youth. The key research objective in this article is to explore whether and to what extent identity crisis is associated with social determinants. The discussion of this article is based on a survey including 234 high school students in Tehran city. According to the results of this analysis, the students’ identity crisis is significantly related to the weakness of internal socio-cultural backgrounds, social and religious anomie, non-participation of students in social groups and communities, the weakness of students’ historical awareness, the inefficiency of the identity-making process by educational and political system, and values conflict. Moreover, the multivariate results of this analysis indicate that the following determinants play the most important role in the identity crisis: imperious process of identity-making by political system, religious anomie, values conflict, weakness of internal social and cultural backgrounds, weakness of political system’s identity-making and imperious identity-making of education. While the first four variables had direct influence on the dependent variable, the last two variables had indirect influence on the dependent variable through religious anomie and values conflict.

This article examines the relationships between body-image, self-esteem and the indices of body weight and body size. It is hypothesized here that our understanding and perception about body are essentially subject to varying socio-cultural contexts. The discussion of this article is based on the results of a survey which includes 395 female students of the Islamic Azad University in Tabriz. According to the results of this analysis, two main patterns can be addressed. First, the self-esteem of these youth is mainly affected by their perception about body. This pattern can be partly explained by the fact that physical attraction becomes more pronounced in the society and culture. Second, the youth included in this analysis have given a relatively less credit to the weight and size of their body. This pattern also tends to accord with the fact that body-weight does not receive a high priority in this socio-cultural context.