The Attitudes of Iranian Rural People towards Urban and Rural Life

The topic of this article is the attitude of rural people towards urban and rural life. The empirical data used for this study was obtained through interviews with 526 people in 64 villages in the provinces of West Azarbaijan, Esfahan, Khoozestan, and Golestan. A multistage cluster sampling method was used. The research results show that most respondents assess financial, welfare, employment, housing and nutrition conditions within rural life as average or below average. Age, marital status and the level of education of individuals does not seem to have an impact on their attitude towards rural life, although the attitude of women is more positive compared to men’s attitude. Most rural people have assessed the various aspects and dimensions of urban life positively. However the relationship between people in cities and their spiritual and mental as well as their physical health conditions have usually been assessed less favorably. Again, age and marital status has no impact on people’s attitude, but women’s attitude is more positive than men’s in this case too. As the level of education increases, the attitude towards urban life does become less positive though.