The relation of using satellite, Internet and virtual social networks on the attitude toward friendship with the opposite sex before marriage (Case study: Students of Arak University)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation of the use of modern communication technologies (satellite, Internet, and virtual social networks) on students' attitude toward the friendship with the opposite sex before marriage in the context of the "Cultivation effects" frameworks, "effects of consequences". The method of this study was correlation and data were collected by using a questionnaire from male and female students of state universities, Payame Noor, Islamic Azad University and Arak Medical Sciences University, which were selected by inappropriate Stratified sampling method. Pearson correlation coefficient and hierarchical regression were used to analyze the data. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis showed that among the research variables, using virtual and satellite social networks after sex control, religious beliefs, and the relationship between parents and their children, 26% of the changes in the attitude towards friendship with the opposite sex can be explained. Also, there was no significant relationship between the use of the Internet and the attitude toward the friendship with the opposite sex. Among the variables of control, gender, and religious beliefs, they significantly related the attitude toward the friendship with the opposite sex. In general, the use of satellite, the use of virtual networks, gender, and religious beliefs have been able to explain 62 percent of the variation of the dependent variable in the statistical population of the research.