Globalization and Levels of Women's Religiosity in Tehran, Shiraz and Estahban

The paper is an attempt to examine the relationship between Globalization and the extent of religiosity among the women in cities of Tehran, Shiraz and Estahban. The theoretical framework of the study is based on Giddens’s ideas on the process of modernity and how modern institutions play a role in Identity-formation. In order to test such claims, I launched a survey on 2200 samples whose age ranged between 16 and 45. The samples were selected randomly in the three cities that I considered them the units of analysis. As for the data collection procedure, I used a survey-based research using questionnaires containing questions that operationalized my theoretical claims. Some of the findings indicate that variables such as the modern social identity, modernism and the egalitarian attitude towards gender roles, on the whole, explain some 33 percent of the total secular behavior of the women in selected cities. The study also revealed that reinforcing religious values and improving the women's awareness about the changes and the process of globalization require participatory planning and far more numerous research projects. Taking such measures will divert the potential threats of globalizations and can turn it into opportunities for women.