Reasons and preconditions for living alone among Tehrani women: A Home of Her own

In the past, being alone, was rarely the choice of people for their lives, and most of those who lived alone were the elderly or young people who were forced to live alone due to unintended circumstances. . But in todaychr('39')s world, a group of people voluntarily choose this lifestyle. This study seeks to understand the reasons for choosing lived alone life style who have never been married in Tehran. For this purpose, with a phenomenological approach, information has been collected on 13 unmarried women over 40 years of age living in Tehran who have voluntarily chosen to live a solitary life. This number of samples was selected by purposive sampling method and they were interviewed in depth.Our research findings have shown that many factors such as education, employment and migration are the only facilitators, but most of these factors are family-oriented. On the other hand, these girls have stated reasons such as gaining skills and self-improvement, getting rid of family rules and frameworks, and feeling comfortable. All in all, to have alone life, seems to provide them with a new opportunity to be different and have a home of their own. Being in a way that is less questionable in the face of being single and at the same time provides new opportunities for them to live. The role of the family in choosing loneliness has been different and dual. The family situation and the prevailing cultural atmosphere have sometimes been in opposition to the independence of single girls and in some cases have been supportive. But what was important for these women was to maintain contact and intimacy with the family after leaving the family.