Development of a Model for Spouse Selection Criteria in Iran

Every person has a set of criteria in mind when choosing a spouse, and it seems that such criteria are different among boys and girls. In this regard, choosing a spouse as the primary cornerstone of family formation is highly important. For this reason, it is necessary to study marriage and spouse selection criteria nowadays. This study aims at investigating the criteria for spouse selection in Iran. The method used in this study is meta-synthesis, which as one of the most efficient research methods makes it possible to structurally utilize the findings extracted from qualitative studies related to the subject under study to attain comprehensive and interpretive findings. For this reason, the results of the previous studies were analyzed, and the required data were collected from the years 1386 to 1396 and 2001 to 2018. Out of 122 articles, 45 articles were selected for analysis. The results of the study, based on the review of numerous articles and the criteria for spouse selection, resulted in 72 codes. Based on the frequency of the criteria, the following can be mentioned as the most important ones: decency, chastity, moral characteristics, education, faith and belief, good appearance and physical features, sufficient income, appropriate occupation, cultural fit of families, age and commitment for childbearing. By examining and integrating the initial findings and after moving between sub-domains, eight main areas of spouse selection were obtained: religious criteria, family criteria, economic criteria, physical and sexual criteria, socio-cultural criteria, personal criteria, psychological criteria and moral criteria.