Cultural Patterns of Shiite-Sunni Integration in Southern Iran: The Study of Sunni and Shiite Intercultural Sensitivity in South Fars Province (Larestan) and West Hormozgan Province (Bastak)

This study follows a social approach and pays attention to the social and cultural level of convergence in the daily life of the Shia and Sunni people. The cultural patterns of Shia-Sunni divide in Lārestan region (south Fars province) and Bastak (west Hormozgān province) are a good example of the coexistence and sympathy between the two religious groups in Iran. The main question is: How the co-existence of Shia and Sunni people in this region can transform the ethnic and religious fanaticism into the ethnical and cultural relativism and ultimately lead to a cultural integration between Shias and Sunnis? Milton J. Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) was adopted as the theoretical model for answering the question. The research includes a field study and a survey interview with 420 Shia and Sunni people in Larestan and Bastak. The results showed that Sunni people have a more ethnocentric view compared with Shia people, because the Sunni people are a minority group who pursue more conservative and cautious views to protect their societies. The Shia people have more ethno relativist views; Shia people have more cultural tolerance and are more inclined to accept and even integrate with Sunnis. It is based on this view that the coexistence, convergence and social integration of Shias and Sunnis have become possible.