نشریه علوم اجتماعی
سال هشتم شماره 1 (پیاپی 17، بهار و تابستان 1390)

Personality type can affect job performance, but the issue has not been studied so far through a sociological approach. Using the Parsonian theory of personality and applying a survey study approach, the present study has attempted to investigate the impact of personality type on working culture. The sample consisting of 481 participants was randomly selected from the population of Azad University staffs in Fars, Bushehr and Kohkiluyeh and Buyerahmad provinces. The instrumentation consisted of a questionnaire whose construct validity was established through a factor analysis method and the reliability of which was established through Cronbach’s alpha. The findings indicated that the mean score of the personality traits (i.e., cooperation and commitment) and the working culture stood at a medium level. But the analytical results of the study showed that instrumental personality had a negative effect on working culture. Moreover, from among the demographic variables involved, only age and years of service had a significant relationship with working culture. The analysis of working culture in terms of the independent variables indicated that separation, collective interest and acquisition are the most powerful determinants of it and are responsible for 12% of its variation. Finally, the findings of the study have been compared to those of the previous ones and suggestions have been proposed to improve the status of the working culture among the staff.

In this study, the transformation of intimacy and pure relationship among young people in Tehran has been investigated. “Pure relationships”, a term coined by Giddens in his work on late modernity, refers to a style of contemporary couple relationship and is a relationship of sexual and emotional equality. This study has tried to seek answers to the question, whether the social, cultural, political, economic and technological changes occurring in the society and assumed to be considered as the level of modernity can bring about "pure relationship" so that it can be identified and analyzed. The concept of ‘pure relationship’ has been measured through indexes of attitude towards gender, external factors (economical and social), spouse selection, housework, and intimacy. Moreover, trust, trust in abstract systems, sense of security, interpersonal trust, and media consumption have been dealt with as the independent variables of the study.

Change and order have been the central subjects of masters of social thought and historical sociology in the modern age. Moreover, explanation of these phenomena has evolved from a naturalistic perspective and negation of agency to an approach emphasizing agency and structure and their mutual interaction. Based on a theoretical framework, this article aims to compare Shahid Motahari’s thought regarding change and order with the latest achievements in historical sociology. Among scholars who pay attention to agency and structure, Shahid Motahari analyzed change and order in terms of their mutual interaction with agency and structure, putting more emphasis on the role of agency.

Following failures in economic growth and developmental policies and the emergence of dissatisfactions related to conducting these policies, different scholars focused on life satisfaction issues. According to them, different factors determine people’s life satisfaction and religiosity and religious circumstances of the society are considered among the most important factors. This paper second analyzed the fifth wave of World Values Survey in Iran with 2667 respondents and examined the hypothesis. The results indicated that the standard coefficient of effect of religiosity on life satisfaction was 0.14. In addition different dimensions of religiosity don’t have the same effect on life satisfaction. For instance believing and participating in collective religious rituals bring about higher levels of life satisfaction. Moreover, the findings showed that religious circumstances in the Iranian society have provided a desirable milieu for the believers to feel an acceptable life satisfaction.

Kurdish regions have been of significance with regard to identity demands during recent decades. Proximity to Iraqi Kurdistan makes the situation more complex and sensitive as well. Due to the Iranian multi-ethnic context and also global changes, the discussion of identity preferences has gained an increasing momentum. The present paper aims at studying the factors affecting identity preferences in Kurdish regions using a multiple-method approach (documentary and survey) and the data were collected by using macro and micro questionnaires. The sample consisted of 630 male and female kurds aging between 18 to 60, residing in Sanandaj and Sardasht and selected through a multi-stage cluster sampling method. The final questionnaire was given to the sample in the spring of 2009. The results indicated that identity preferences of the respondents were based on the feelings of unity and identity with the indices of ethnic community and the feeling of distinction against national community. Moreover, the Kurds under study consider themselves culturally close to other Iranian ethnics although they believe in a gap between the Iranian identity and the political field. The results of a multivariate analysis revealed that the level of development in Kurdish regions, the degree of economic, cultural and social capitals, the type of feeling and conception about cultural and social objects affected identity preferences which could finally explain 66 percent of the identity preferences variance.

Nowadays, one of the tangible and significant problems in our society is the subject of “crime with legal appearance” the most obvious of which are pyramid companies. Considering the fact that most people associated with such companies are from among the youth, and especially young university students, the researchers have tried to investigate the rate of tendency among the students at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad to take part in such companies. The present study was conducted as a survey. The population consisted of the entire number of students studying at Ferdowsi University during the academic year 2008-9. The sample of participants consisted of 290 people, randomly selected. The results indicated that the traditional social values affected the students’ tendency negatively, while the desire to enjoy a luxurious way of living influenced that inclination positively. Furthermore, variables such as family relationships, social satisfaction, using the Internet in a negative way, acquaintance with people associated with such companies, the desire to decrease the social gap, and a sense of social discrimination had also an indirect impact on the dependent variable.