Social Problems of Iran

Emotional Ambivalence in the Migration Intentions of Tehran’s Youth: From the Entanglement of Conflicting Feelings to the Trauma of Decision-Making

Authors

Javad Maddahi 1
Reza Safari Shali 2
Saied Kabiri 3

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Social Studies Research, Institute for Cultural, Social, and Civilizational Studies, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.61882/jspi.16.2.227
Abstract
In the contemporary world, migration is no longer merely a geographical relocation; rather, it constitutes an emotional, uncertain, and identity-related process imbued with both hope and apprehension. The present study sought to examine the feelings of young people in Tehran regarding emigration from Iran, employing a qualitative methodology grounded in grounded theory. To this end, in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 young residents of Tehran, selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Data analysis yielded 108 open codes, 29 subcategories, 9 main categories, and a single core category. The categories included: Suspended Identity (the dilemma of staying or leaving: the trauma of correct decision-making and the fear of regret); Fantasy Dreaming or Mythical Utopias (the modern dream: geographical psychosis); Roots of the Desire to Leave (ranging from minor frustrations to the pursuit of an unrealized self); Commodification, Consumerism, and the Subject-Making of Economic Success; Instagram’s Performative Representation of Migrant Life: from Reality to Spectacle; Strategies (from pursuing migration regulations to quitting jobs and withdrawing from everyday activities); and Consequences (from anxiety and excitement to tension and uncertainty). The core category was identified as “The Problem of Youth Migration: from the Entanglement of Contradictory Emotions to the Desire for an Imagined Elsewhere.” On this basis, a paradigm model was developed. The findings indicate that fear, doubt, stress, and unease are deeply embedded in young people’s decision-making about migration. This affective conflict is more than a temporary or situational feeling. The study suggests that, for some young people in Tehran, migration represents a fusion of dreams and anxieties: a movement from aspects of a dissatisfied self toward an uncertain and challenging destination. This reflects a dual condition and process in the lives of contemporary youth, entrapping them in the dilemma of leaving or staying, and of being and becoming.



Extended Abstract

1. Introduction

In the contemporary world, migration is no longer merely an act of geographical relocation; rather, it represents an emotional, identity-laden, and ambivalent process shaped by both hope and apprehension. While most studies on migration have primarily approached the subject from structural, financial, economic, individual, familial, educational, or skill-based perspectives, much less attention has been paid to its deeper meanings—particularly among young people. This neglect has deprived the scholarly community of a fuller understanding of the internal motivations and complex mechanisms involved in the decision to migrate. Migration, whether through its tangible trends (migration of young people from less developed countries to developed countries) or in other ways (migration between developed countries), has been a pervasive concept in the last half century. With a little reflection, it can be said that migration, especially from less developed countries to developed countries, has become a problem and even a social problem, at least in the research literature. The present study considers its sociological mission to be to understand the emotions and meanings of migration among some young people affected by the broad structures of society, because the subject of sociology is not simply the individual; rather, it is the subject of sociology of society itself. Therefore, in this article, emphasizing the contemporary sociological approach, we have tried to set aside obvious assumptions regarding the phenomenon of migration and, by adopting an analytical stance, to find the ability to understand the meanings and feelings of young people regarding the decision to migrate or not.



2. Methodology

The present study aimed to explore how young people in Tehran perceive and emotionally experience the idea of emigration. The research employed a qualitative methodology within an interpretive paradigm, using grounded theory. Grounded theory is particularly suited to studies seeking to understand the meanings of phenomena from the perspective and lived experience of those directly engaged with them. Participants included men and women aged 18 to 40 residing in Tehran, who either intended to migrate or were in the process of doing so. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 28 participants, conducted via purposive sampling combined with snowball sampling. Interviews lasted on average between 55 minutes and 4 hours, in some cases extending across multiple sessions, and the overall data collection process spanned more than nine months. Among the questions raised in the interview were: What feelings do young people who are inclined to migrate in Tehran experience during this decision? What is their understanding of the migration phenomenon? What are the grounds and reasons for the decision to migrate? What are the emotional, social, cultural, and economic consequences of this decision on them?

Theoretical saturation was achieved, and analysis followed grounded theory’s coding procedures, including open, axial, and selective coding. From the data, 108 open codes, 29 subcategories, 9 main categories, and one core category emerged. The main categories included: Suspended Identity (the dilemma of staying or leaving: the trauma of correct decision-making and fear of regret); Fantasy Dreaming or Mythical Utopias (the modern dream: geographical psychosis); Roots of the Desire to Leave (from minor frustrations to the pursuit of an unrealized self); Commodification, Consumerism, and the Subject-Making of Economic Success; Instagram’s Performative Representation of Migrant Life: from Reality to Spectacle; Strategies (ranging from following migration laws to quitting jobs and withdrawing from daily life); and Consequences (spanning anxiety, excitement, tension, and doubt). The core category was identified as “The Problem of Youth Migration: from the Entanglement of Contradictory Emotions to the Desire for an Imagined Elsewhere.” Based on these findings, a paradigm model was developed.



3. Findings

The analysis also resonates with Heidegger’s critique of modernity, suggesting that modernization—through the commodification of desires, calculative rationality, the neglect of public life, and the intensification of sensory contradictions—has shaped young people’s aspirations and anxieties. The capitalist system, with its seductive imagery and promises, channels youth identities, feelings, and aspirations, producing a sense of inadequacy or incompleteness. As a result, the elevation of consumption as a marker of social and cultural life has reshaped roles, values, and everyday practices, while fostering dissatisfaction, consumerist excess, and the pursuit of distinction through luxury. In this light, migration can be understood as an expression of the modernization of dreams and aspirations.

Findings reveal multiple layers of emotional contradiction surrounding migration among Tehran’s youth. At the core of decision-making lies fear, doubt, stress, and unease, manifesting in profound struggles over staying or leaving. The desire to migrate in pursuit of self-realization is accompanied by hesitation and anxiety, creating an emotional-psychological conflict that is neither temporary nor superficial, but rather an ontological condition of modern youth: being trapped between leaving or staying, being and becoming. For some, the wish to migrate becomes a form of emotional torment—not physical punishment, but persistent inner rumination about what will happen if one leaves or stays. Each choice carries with it sadness, regret, and fear.

This underscores the significance of the sociology of emotions in understanding youth actions. At the very least, the study demonstrates that migration and the desire to migrate among young people is not merely a geographical relocation, but a paradoxical social and emotional experience. The youth under study emerge as tragic figures caught within a narrative of contradictions, staged against a backdrop of consumerism and individualism.



4. Conclusion

To address this paradox—or to mitigate the desire for migration—several policy recommendations may be proposed: recognizing and valuing youth emotions and affect; strengthening discourses of belonging, hope, solidarity, and emotional commitment; developing educational and academic programs centered on social hope, national identity, and social cohesion; designing emotional-empowerment initiatives for youth; addressing emotional needs to reduce feelings of neglect and enhance intergenerational dialogue; and fostering cultural policies that strengthen national pride and belonging through media and cultural programs that present positive, hopeful, and empowering images of youth and local achievements. This is where the sociology of emotions and feelings plays an important role in understanding the actions of young people. The emotional-emotional study of migration in the present article shows, at least in its minimal function, that migration and the desire for it among young people is not just a movement from one place to another and relocation; it is rather a paradox of feeling and social living. Here, the young person under study has become a tragic figure in a scenario of contradictions that is displayed on the stage of a consumerist and individualistic life. Therefore, in order to manage this paradox or fundamentally reduce the desire for youth migration, several policy recommendations can be proposed, for example: Correctly recognizing the emotions and feelings of youth and believing in the importance of this issue; Strengthening the discourse of belonging, hope, solidarity, and emotional commitment among youth; Designing and creating educational, scientific programs, student and university curricula centered on social hope, belonging to national identity, and strengthening the discourse of cohesion and social capital; Creating programs for the emotional empowerment of youth and adolescents, emotional resilience, and creating hopeful and identity-building meanings; Paying attention to the emotional needs of youth, reducing the feeling of being ignored, and strengthening intergenerational dialogues; Creating cultural policies to strengthen national-emotional pride and pride through media-cultural programs to develop a positive, hopeful, vibrant, future-building, and calming image; An emotional-sentimental display of indigenous heroic youth, proud indigenous capacities, identification of the unique capacities of national belonging, and movement towards the importance of finding emotional attachment to identity.



Keywords

Migration
Youth
Emotions
Affect
Decision-Making Trauma
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  • Receive Date 08 June 2026
  • Publish Date 08 June 2026