Desire and Attitude to Marriage Among Unmarried Iranian Youth: A Qualitative Study

Due to the importance of marriage in providing the society structure, foundation for family formation, and continuity of the generation, as well as considering the decline of marriage rate in Iran, this study was designed to explore desire and attitude to marriage among Iranian youth. Participants were 22 unmarried Iranian youth who were selected by purposive and snowball sampling from the capital of Iran, Tehran. Interviews were carefully recorded and concurrent with data collection, analysis was done using directed content analysis technique. After securing the data saturation, interviews were finished and data were categorized. A total of 4 main categories and 12 sub-categories were derived from the results of the current study in terms of attitude to marriage among Iranian youth. Main categories included sense of excellence, achievement of calm, achieving stability, and the necessity of marriage. The concept of marriage from the viewpoint of Iranian youth is an essential element that can help to create a sense of stability, achieve calm in life, and ultimately achieve excellence. On the whole, the attitude to marriage was positive among unmarried Iranian youth, but marriage rate was definitely falling in Iran. Identification of the factors affecting marriage rate can be addressed in future national research.