The Evaluation of the Women Decision-making Power in Family and the Effective Factors

As the research literature indicates, various studies have been conducted regarding the decision-making power of women in different countries including Iran. Nevertheless, the majority of these studies base their evaluation on the descriptions and reports provided by women about their decision-making power in the family. It should be considered that the evaluation by women might arise from their mental interpretations which could be far away from the reality. Accordingly, the present study aims to eliminate the possible obstacles toward an improved understanding of this issue by comparing and contrasting the evaluations provided by two groups of males and females. To this aim, the resourse theory, the social capital theory by Bourdieu, Bam’s theory, and Lerner’s theory serve as underlying theoretical foundations of the study. Next, the data are collected through a questionnaire from two groups of males and females during a survey in Mashhad. The mentioned data are collected from a sample of 570 individuals who are selected through cluster sampling. Finally, the results show that the decision-making power of women in family in the population under study (Mashhad) is on an average level. In contrast to the primary hypothesis that takes personal characteristics of the women as the most effective factor in this regard, the results reveal that the level couple’s belief in the gender stereotypes, and the husbands’ traits are among the most influential factors on women’s decision-making power.