The Relationship between Modernism and Reluctance towards Marriage among Young People (Case of Study: Youths in Tehran)

The present study investigates the relationship between modernism and reluctance towards marriage among youths in Tehran using a survey methodology. The research population included all individuals aged 20 to 40 years living in Tehran. The sample size was determined using Cochran's formula. Accordingly, 384 questionnaires were distributed among the respondents using random cluster sampling technique. The conceptual model of the study was developed based on a combination of Ingelhart’s theoretical approach, Adorno and Horkheimer’s family structure, George Gerbner’s cultivation theory and modernist approaches proposed by Giddens, Habermas, and Beck. The independent variables manipulated in this study were individualism, fashion, materialism, gender equality, family, and media consumption that were used as the components of modernism. The findings of the study showed that all the aforementioned variables had a significant positive relationship with reluctance towards marriage. In addition, the results of regression analysis indicated that gender equality (0.371) had the highest total effect on the reluctance to marry, followed by variables such as fashions (0.26), individualism (0.255), and materialism (0.241) which occupied the next positions in terms of their effects on reluctance towards marriage. The value of coefficient of determination (R2) also indicated that that 42% of the variations in reluctance towards marriage can be explained by the variables used in the research model. In addition, F-value (54.741) and the significance level (0.000) show that the research model is significant at the confidence level of 0.99.