Social Attitude toward Marriage Patterns in Iran

Despite the substantial changes in the contemporary family buildings throughout the world, the behaviour of fertility and childbearing in many societies including Iran still rests upon marital union as a key and vital prerequisite for fertility and childbearing. In this line, the present study focuses primarily on marriage patterns from a demographic perspective, and examines the major dimensions and determinants associated with attitudes towards marriage patterns. This analysis identifies marriage patterns by such indicators as ideal age of marriage for girls and boys, endogamy, polygamy, the place of marriage in women's priority. The results of this article is based on a survey conducted in selected rural and urban areas of Iran, that includes 4267 males and females aged 15-64 years old. The preliminary results of this analysis indicate that the ideal age of marriage for girls and boys are respectively 21-24 years and 25-27 years old; almost half of the respondents are in favour of endogamy; education and marriage have the highest rank in women's priority; and males hold a substantially more positive attitude towards polygamy than females. These general patterns, however, are significantly affected by such demographic determinants as age, gender, urban-rural areas of residence, marital status, education, religiosity, and gender attitude.