Accessible Attitudes on Conservation of Jameh Mosque of TehranBased on Attitude Measurement of the Stakeholders of Conservation

Over the years, the broadened range of what is regarded as heritage due to the comprehension of multifold dimensions of this concept, led to the realization of the profound role of social factors on the conservation of cultural heritage. The constant evolution of the concept of heritage and the widening range of factors and challenges resulted in the implementation of other disciplines such as human and social sciences within the multidisciplinary nature of heritage conservation discourse. Thus, the execution of management strategies such as the stakeholder approach with the intention to handle and direct various social forces and conflicting interests of contemporary societies towards their heritage in order to diminish the potential conflicts between individuals and groups of the heritage community and enhancement of supportive attitudes and behaviors among them, were integrated into the conservation planning processes. In respect of the growing need for more inclusive approaches to heritage management and a greater emphasis on community engagement, distribution of socio-psychologic discussions such as attitude research to the field of conservation on account of managing the social influences of human societies has become inevitable. Accordingly, heritage management has been more concerned with developing and reinforcing attitudes that would lead to the building of a true culture of prevention within the heritage community by means of promoting proactive rather than reactive attitudes toward heritage conservation and management. The primary aim of this study is to achieve a practical framework of empirical approach concerning the subject of conservation of architectural heritage based on the utilization of analyzing the accessible attitudes of the Stakeholders of Conservation in Jameh Mosque of Tehran. The study applied a grounded theory approach in order to collect qualitative data through a non-directive interview which provides insights into understanding various attitudinal aspects of key stakeholders' outlooks on the conservation process of the place and recognition of the range of interests in the property. Attitude accessibility from memory is acknowledged to be a determinant of the strength of attitudes, the importance of attitudes and to what extend attitudes can affect behaviors; therefore more accessible attitudes are more influential on people's judgmental biases and decision making. Data labeling according to repetitions, patterns and similarities, unveiled 18 fundamental themes titled "code groups" and 109 subject matters titled as "codes" among all four groups of stakeholders' interviewees. Three stages of analysis were conducted to estimate the similarity or difference between attitudes of every group with reference to others, different individuals in the same groups in regard to each other, and each individual to their own. Findings revealed the dominance of "Corporal Aspects" and also some obvious divergencies in meanings, interests and priorities of different groups of stakeholders towards the conservation process of the property. Furthermore, two of the effective attitudinal subject matters which are most eligible to form attitudinal judgments and behaviors of stakeholders toward the conservation process were recognized as "Restoration Time Zone" and "Tidiness of the Space", which both are related to "Corporal Aspects".