Value- Cultural Oreintations and Attitude toward Marriage among Youth in Tehran City

Marriage's values and attitudes in Iran are significantly changing. Understanding and explaining of these changes requires taking into account the role of cultural forces in combination with or in opposition to structural forces. The article is to examine the effects of cultural factors on the attitude toward marriage and family. Data was collected using cross-sectional survey and multi-stage sampling among young people in Tehran city. The findings showed that about one-fifth of respondents have a modern orientation toward marriage and family formation. The findings also indicated that socio-cultural changes have led to changes in the values and norms of marriage and family formation. Multivariate analysis revealed that with increasing in individualism, gender egalitarian, secularism, and exposure to transnational media (satellite and Internet), the traditional attitude toward marriage decreased and, on the other hand, modern attitude to marriage increased. Thus, considering the changes in the cultural components of society, modern values and new forms of marriage and family formation are expected to increase in Iran.