The Role of Media Consumption and Socio-economic Status in the Attitude of Office Staff Towards the Prevalence of the Culture of Administrative Corruption

Corruption is a problem that is difficult to deal with theoretically, empirically, and politically. The purpose of this research was to explain the attitude of the employees of Yasouj city offices toward the prevalence of administrative corruption. Using the survey method and Lin's table, the sample size was estimated at 400 persons, and samples were selected via systematic, classified, and multi-stage random sampling methods. The data were collected via a self-administered structured questionnaire, which its validity and reliability were evaluated by face validity and Cronbach's alpha coefficient, respectively. The results of the research showed that the variables of income, socio-economic status, and age have an inverse and significant relationship with the attitude towards the level of administrative corruption, but the attitude of male and female employees about the level of administrative corruption was not significantly different. There was no significant difference in the attitude towards the level of administrative corruption according to the amount of use of radio, newspaper, and satellite, but there was a significant difference according to the amount of use of television and the Internet. People who used the Internet less and also people who used TV more evaluated the prevalence of administrative corruption more. Multivariate regression analysis showed that socioeconomic status explained 18.7% of the variance of the dependent variable. The final result is that the socio-economic status and some mass media (TV and Internet use) play a role in the attitude towards the level of administrative corruption and the lower classes are more concerned about corruption in the society compared to the upper classes. The prevalence of corruption leads to its institutionalization and greater tolerance towards it in such a way that a tolerable cultural face of it is shown in the society. This result shows that the lower-class employees are more concerned about the level of corruption than the upper class. The inverse and significant relationship between income and attitude towards the level of administrative corruption also indicates that people with low income have evaluated the level of corruption in society more than people with high income. It shows that, on the one hand, women in Iranian society and even in a semi-traditional city like Yasouj pay attention to social issues on a macro level along with men and react to them, albeit subjectively. On the other hand, the concern for administrative corruption in society is beyond gender boundaries in such a way that there is no significant difference between women and men regarding the level of corruption. Although women are less involved in major administrative and social events than men, the absence of a significant difference between women's and men's attitudes about the level of corruption in society indicates a collective belief about a certain level of corruption in society.