An image of the Iranians’ Social Dispositions towards the Religious Mournings Based on the ForeignTravellers' Accounts

Emphasizing on the necessity of the collaboration between the authoritarian structure and the dispositions of the Iranian society, many writings on the topic of Iranians’ dispositions reveal that the existence of the authoritarian regimes throughout the history of this nation has led to the domination of the self-centered values, and the lack of formation of the developmental-creating features like sense of responsibility, collaboration, collective spirit and other-mindedness. Should the roots of many of today’s problems be sought in the Iranians’past historical origins and dispositions? The answers could be found by referring to the historical and anthropological sources. This article takes on a historical and an anthropological approaches and uses an archival method in studying one of the most popular and widely practiced elements of culture and identity of the Iranian society, i.e. the mourning practices from the perspectives of the travel writers. Based on the findings of this research, doubt could be casted on the functions of the theories that express a correlation between the authoritarian leadership and the nation’s disposition.