Social Problems of Iran

fa تجرد‌گرایی در بین مردان مجرد طبقۀ متوسط شهری (مورد مطالعه: مردان ساکن چهار کلانشهر ایران) Celibacy among Single Urban Middle-Class Men: (Case of Study of Men Living in Four Iranian Metropolis) خانواده و ازدواج Family & Marriage پژوهشی اصیل Original Research <div style="text-align: justify;">این مطالعه با رویکرد کیفی و استفاده از نظریۀ زمینه‌ای، به واکاوی درک و تجربه‌های مردان مجرد بالای ۳۰ سال ساکن چهار کلان‌شهر تهران، تبریز، مشهد و اصفهان نسبت به تجردگرایی می‌پردازد. ۲۴ مرد شرکت‌کننده که زندگی مجردی را تجربه کرده‌اند، از طریق نمونه‌گیری هدفمند از نوع نظری انتخاب شدند. داده‌ها با انجام مصاحبه‌های عمیق جمع‌آوری و با روش کدگذاری سه‌مرحله‌ای اشتراوس و کوربین تحلیل شدند. یافته‌ها نشان داد که تجردگرایی نتیجۀ تعامل پیچیده‌ای از عوامل علّی شامل بلوغ فکری، ارجحیت رابطۀ قبل از ازدواج بر ازدواج دائم، ترس از تعهدات و آیندۀ ازدواج و احساس محدودشدن آزادی فردی است. علاوه‌براین، شرایط زمینه‌ای شامل سبک زندگی نوین و تغییر ذهنیت نسبت به ازدواج، این گرایش را تقویت می‌کنند. نهادهای خانواده و دولت نیز با اِعمال محدودیت‌های عرفی و قانونی نقش مداخله‌گر دارند و موانعی بر سَر راه ازدواج ایجاد می‌کنند. پیامدهای این وضعیت، استمرار زندگی مجردی، افزایش تنهایی و گرایش به انواع روابط خارج از چارچوب رسمی ازدواج است. درمجموع، تجردگرایی در این مطالعه به‌مثابۀ یک انتخاب آگاهانه و راهی برای حفظ استقلال و تحقق خود در بستر تحولات اجتماعی مدرن تحلیل شده است.</div> Abstract This qualitative study, conducted in the grounded theory approach, offers an in-depth exploration of the attitudes and lived experiences of never-married men over the age of 30 residing in four major Iranian cities: Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, and Isfahan, in relation to the phenomenon of voluntary singleness. A total of 24 participants, all of whom had experienced prolonged singlehood, were selected through purposive and theoretical sampling. Data were collected via in-depth interviews and analyzed using Strauss and Corbin’s three-stage coding process, allowing for a comprehensive examination of the issue. Findings indicate that the tendency toward remaining single stems from a complex interplay of causal factors, including intellectual maturity, a preference for premarital relationships over permanent marriage, fear of commitment and the uncertain future of marriage, and the perceived loss of personal freedom. Contextual conditions—such as modern lifestyles and shifting perceptions of marriage—further reinforce this tendency. Meanwhile, social institutions such as the family and the state act as intervening forces by imposing customary and legal constraints that hinder the path to marriage. Consequences of this condition include the continuation of single living, increased loneliness, and a growing inclination toward relationships outside the formal framework of marriage. Overall, singleness in this study is conceptualized as a conscious choice and a strategy for preserving personal autonomy and self-actualization within the context of contemporary social transformations. Extended Abstract: <ol> <li class="CxSpMiddle" style="text-align:justify">Introduction</li> </ol> Bachelorhood and the tendency toward singlehood is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has gained increasing importance in recent years in various societies, particularly in Iran. Singlehood is not merely about the absence of marriage; rather, it represents a new attitude and a chosen lifestyle in which some individuals opt to live outside the framework of marriage. This phenomenon is shaped by individual, cultural, social, and economic factors and carries diverse consequences for personal and social life. In Iran, the family structure and attitudes toward marriage are undergoing profound changes. Increasing individual independence, shifts in values and lifestyles, and the influence of modernization processes such as urbanization and globalization have redefined the concepts of marriage and cohabitation (Azad Armaki, 2016: 278). In such a context, single men from the urban middle class, especially in metropolises such as Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, and Isfahan, face specific challenges and experiences that require careful understanding and analysis. Given this background, the main objective of the present research is to analyze the causal and contextual conditions and consequences of singlehood from the perspective of single men from the urban middle class in the four metropolises of Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, and Isfahan. The overarching research question is: How are the conditions, contextual factors, and consequences of singlehood formed among single men from the urban middle class, and what characteristics do they have? <ol start="2"> <li class="CxSpMiddle" style="text-align:justify">Methodology</li> </ol> The present research is qualitative and exploratory in nature and applied in purpose. This study employed a grounded theory approach. The sampling in this research was purposive and theoretical, and data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The participants in this study were single men aged 30 and above from the middle class who had temporarily come to Tehran and were residents of one of the four metropolises: Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, or Isfahan. These individuals were identified through work-related meetings, tourism, chance encounters, and daily interactions in workplaces, neighborhoods, and homes, and were selected from among eligible individuals (no history of formal marriage, possessing at least a high school diploma, belonging to the middle or upper-middle class). The sampling and interview process concluded based on theoretical saturation, with a final number of 24 participants. The main thematic axes of the interview questions included attitudes toward marriage, reasons for singlehood, lived experiences of being single, expectations of a future spouse, consequences associated with singlehood, and the single lifestyle. The research duration was 18 months, from early March 2023 to late January 2025. The interviews were conducted in person, with each session lasting between 40 to 70 minutes. Data analysis was conducted concurrently with data collection; after each interview, the data were coded, and the initial findings were used to formulate and refine the questions for the subsequent interview until theoretical saturation was achieved. <ol start="3"> <li class="CxSpMiddle" style="text-align:justify">Findings</li> </ol> The concepts, main and subcategories, and the core category of the research were identified and classified based on the participants' statements and through the three stages of Grounded Theory coding. These categories represent a set of perspectives that reveal the contexts, causal conditions, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, consequences, and strategies regarding the phenomenon of singlehood among the interviewees. The core category of this research emerged from 14 main categories and 35 concepts. According to the analyses conducted on the interview transcripts, the central category of this study emerged as "Singlehood as Self-Actualization in the Modern World." This category, as a social and cultural phenomenon, has become prevalent under the influence of increasing individualism. This lifestyle is associated with a growing desire for independence and personal freedom, steering the youth toward new experiences liberated from traditional constraints. Furthermore, singlehood is perceived as a modern choice that enables individuals to focus on themselves and their personal interests. <ol start="4"> <li class="CxSpMiddle" style="text-align:justify">Conclusion</li> </ol> The findings of this research indicate that changes in the material lifeworld, particularly urban metropolitan life, have led to shifts in attitudes and mentalities towards marriage. These transformations align with theories by Parsons, Goode, Lesthaeghe, as well as Giddens and Beck regarding the influence of modernization, individualization, and free choice in family formation. The results of this study are consistent with research such as that by Benarizadeh (2024), Dehghan-Hesar (2022), and Apostolou et al. (2020), all of which emphasize the individualization of the decision to marry. Apartment living conditions in metropolises have reinforced both the objective and subjective dimensions of this situation. On one hand, life in urban spaces leads to anonymity, facilitates connections, and fosters the formation of premarital relationships, thereby strengthening the subjective groundwork for singlehood. On the other hand, economic pressures and a consumerist lifestyle have made marriage more costly and commodified it. Subjectively, marriage is no longer perceived as a familial or collective duty, but rather as an individual choice for achieving happiness, redefined by new criteria such as pleasure, personal utility, and reflexively considered emotional relationships. As the research findings show, singlehood aligns with a set of modern cultural values within the urban middle class; values such as free choice, pleasure-based relationships, relative freedom from customary, religious, and legal constraints, and fluidity in marital relationships. These results are also in line with studies like that by Habibpour Gatabi and Ghafari (2016), which showed that educated women marry later because they base their decisions more on post-materialist values. The results also signify the transition of the Iranian family from a traditional structure towards modern and postmodern forms. In this transition, new forms of cohabitation, such as cohabitation (albeit limited), are emerging in metropolises. However, traditional institutions like religion, family, and the state continue to resist these changes. Contrary to perspectives such as those of Beck and Castells, which observe reduced control over marriage in modernity, in Iran, the paternalistic religious state, with its strict laws (such as setting dowry and opposing informal relationships), still constitutes a barrier to family transformations. These multilayered constraints not only fail to strengthen the family foundation but, by increasing the costs and risks of marriage, have contributed to the formation and reinforcement of the tendency toward singlehood. One possible strategy to facilitate marriage is the reduction and moderation of strict laws, including those concerning dowry, and the simplification of marriage traditions. Furthermore, re-evaluating traditional gender roles, especially in the economic provision for the family, and accepting shared responsibilities by both women and men, could lead to a rebalancing of the family system and a reduction in marriage obstacles. Despite the relative prevalence of this lifestyle, single living is still not a desirable or universal substitute for the nuclear family, as it entails significant individual and social consequences. According to the findings of this research and other studies (such as Shahriari and Motiee-Tabar, 2022; Talebpour and Biramond, 2021), the individual consequences of singlehood include loneliness, feelings of rejection, isolation, and social alienation (especially for girls bearing cultural stigma). Its social consequences include a decline in marriage rates and the spread of relationships outside of marriage (cohabitation, sigheh [temporary marriage], prostitution, and patterns like sugar daddy/sugar baby arrangements and shower-bandi). In conclusion, this research demonstrated that structural transformations in Iranian society, particularly within the urban middle class, have altered values, norms, lifestyles, and marriage patterns. Marriage can no longer be interpreted solely within a traditional framework. Singlehood is not an absolute social pathology, but rather a social, multifaceted, and to some extent natural phenomenon linked to urban living conditions. It should be viewed with an analytical and multi-layered perspective, not merely a normative or value-laden one.   تجرد‌‌گرایی, مردان مجرد, طبقۀ متوسط, فردگرایی, روابط خارج از ازدواج. Celibacy, Single men, Middle-class, Individualism, Extramarital affairs. 91 129 http://jspi.khu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3042-2&slc_lang=fa&sid=1 Mohammad Taghi sabzehei محمدتقی سبزه‌ای m.sabzehei@basu.ac.ir 4010086483 7909-9635-0001-0000 Yes Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran استادیار جامعه‌شناسی، گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدهٔ علوم اقتصادی و اجتماعی، دانشگاه بوعلی‌سینا، همدان، ایران Javad Afshar Kohan جواد افشارکهن j.afsharkohan@basu.ac.ir 4131917033 10031947532846007954 No Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran دانشیار جامعه‌شناسی، گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدهٔ علوم اقتصادی و اجتماعی، دانشگاه بوعلی‌سینا، همدان، ایران Ali Mohammad Ghodsi علی‌محمد قدسی a.ghodsi@basu.ac.ir 4131917033 10031947532846007955 No Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran دانشیار جامعه‌شناسی، گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدهٔ علوم اقتصادی و اجتماعی، دانشگاه بوعلی‌سینا، همدان، ایران Amin Roshanpour امین روشن‌پور aminrushanpoor@gmail.com 4073456164 0009-0008-7098-0784 No Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran دانشجوی دکتری جامعه‌شناسی، گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدهٔ علوم اقتصادی و اجتماعی، دانشگاه بوعلی‌سینا، همدان، ایران