A study on the reasons for the conflict between political thought and behavior, using a combined research method

The purpose of this study is sociological explanation of the contradiction between thought and political behavior of individuals through investigating their semantic system about contradiction. It was carried out using combination research and sequential exploration strategy. In the qualitative section, interview was employed and in the quantitative section, field study was utilized. The statistical population included the university students in Isfahan City. The sample size was equal to 30 persons in the qualitative section and 250 persons in the quantitative section. Theoretical saturation was used in the qualitative section and cluster sampling was used in the quantitative section. Data analysis was conducted through coding in the qualitative section and PLS structural equation modeling in the quantitative section. The findings of the qualitative section reveal creation of the students' semantic system about the contradiction between political thought and behavior around a number of main categories and a core category known as "political distrust". The findings in the quantitative section show that mean of contradiction in the statistical population is above average. The independent variables can explain contradiction at a relatively high level. In the empirical model, the effect of political distrust on contradiction is positive and significant at the level 0.001. Variables such as democracy, loyalty to the system, and hope for a better future have a negative and significant effect on political distrust. Moreover, non-modern culture and national identity do not have a significant effect on political distrust.